Lollipops, Headsets and Other Eccentricities
by Deathwhisperer
Summary: After accidentally angering Sayo, Tatsumi found himself on the ground of a dirty alley in the middle of the Imperial Capital. Waiting in a coffee shop until his companions calmed down, he stumbled upon a cheeky girl with a pair of headphones permanently stuck to her head. [Peaceful AU] - Currently writing first book, but I can't promise I can continue this afterwards.
1. A Chance Encounter

**A Chance Encounter**

* * *

"It was an accident!" he pleaded.

"_LIKE HELL IT WAS!_" she retorted.

In Tatsumi's defense, it truly was an accident of sorts. A slip of the tongue, an honest mistake, that somehow led up to a painful ending that had him begging Sayo for forgiveness. It was all in vain, however - he had managed to rile her up so bad her flower decoration flew off her head in her bout of anger. A nice, solid slap later, she left a shell-shocked Tatsumi lying on his butt in a shady alley somewhere in the confusing maze that is the Imperial Capital.

If he had to guess, they were on some sort of date that day. Sayo would never admit that in a million years, but he had to be a complete idiot to remain ignorant of her advances. To be honest, he liked her as well. Why wouldn't he? She's beautiful, smart, caring, and although occasionally harsh he could definitely see himself dating her. The problem would be that his feelings about Sayo is still unclear. He was hoping their time together would serve to clarify the nature of their relationship.

They were looking for cheap apartment buildings to rent before they begin their first semester in the Imperial Academy. Both Sayo and Tatsumi have earned scholarships that allowed them to attend the prestigious academy, but it took the combined funds of their savings to bring their less-than-hardworking friend Ieyasu along.

Together they are the first three youths from their remote mountain village to enter an Academy - and not just _an _Academy, _the_ Academy. The academy that spawned great minds that had kept the Empire a thriving nation for more than a thousand years. He smiled, reminiscing the proud, avuncular smile the village Elder gave them before they left.

It was then that he noticed the sleeves of his shirt was getting wet from a mysterious puddle of sludge beside him.

Ugh. He shook off the mucky substance.

Back to reality it is.

Where was he?

The date.

_Right._

So there they were, strolling casually through the shopping district of the city. It was incredibly disorienting. Back in the village, they have gone to a nearby town for various purposes, but he had never seen so many people squeezed in such a small place. His elder told him that back in his day there were a few million people living in the capital. Now it looked as if there were tens of millions. It scared him a little. The sheer size of the city made him feel like a tiny drop of water in a vast ocean.

But Sayo is not content in being an unmoving drop of water, so she dragged him around through rivers of people. They were in the commercial district, supposedly apartment-hunting, but when Sayo took a detour into the fashion district Tatsumi realized what she really wanted. He can only hope that they'll have enough time to find an apartment later.

Since they weren't very rich, they have never been able to afford more than window shopping, but this time Sayo looked rather determined.

"Do you actually have money to spend?" Tatsumi asked. "You know we need every cent we have to get an apartment, right?"

"I'm sick of these old things!" Sayo complained, pinching the hem of her worn skirt. "I know we're pretty tight money-wise but it can't hurt to buy a dress, right?"

It took her awhile to find an appropriate clothing store, but eventually they found one that looked moderately fancy yet affordable. They entered the store and Sayo immediately ditched him.

Sayo immediately started going through the various selections and fabrics, much to Tatsumi's exasperation. He sat down on a long seat in the middle of the room and watched as Sayo perused through their wares.

He noticed a green haired guy sitting beside him, looking as if he actually might die of boredom. Sayo had disappeared into one of the dressing rooms with a set of clothing and having nothing better to do, he tried to console the stranger.

"Women?" Tatsumi sympathized.

"Women." the green haired guy agreed.

Awkward silence.

"Who are you with?" Lubbock asked.

"She's in a dressing room. How about you?"

"Busty blonde, left aisle."

Tatsumi spotted a blonde haired beauty grabbing what seems to be indecent clothing. She looked around, as if worried if someone might see, and started stuffing various apparel into her bountiful chest. Lubbock slumped even further into his seat.

"If anyone asks, I don't know her."

"Date?"

"She'd kill me if I told you so."

They sighed in melodious harmony.

Before long the blonde haired beauty appeared out of one of the dressing rooms and stood proudly in front of his newly acquired comrade in the never-ending strife of accompanying women into shopping stores. She wore a skimpy black.. actually, he has no idea what she was wearing. It was revealing, all right; her bare shoulders, flat stomach and impressive cleavage was out for the world to see, but she didn't seem to care at all.

"So, what do you think, Lubbock?"

"You look good. Can we leave now?" the green haired guy,

"You didn't even look!" the blonde flared, grabbing 'Lubbock' by the scruff of his neck and raising him to stand.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he apologized.

"You should consider yourself lucky, you know. Not very many people get to enjoy store dates with a smoking hot girl!"

"How modest. But seriously, Leone, can we leave now?"

'Leone' frowned. Big mistake. "Fine!"

She practically dragged her companion out of the store, screaming.

_Goodbye, Buttock. It was good knowing you._ Tatsumi thought, closing in eyes in silent reverence to his fallen acquaintance. _May our short time together improve my wisdom regarding the whims of women._

The door to the dressing room opened to reveal one Sayo in a white sleeveless dress. It shows off her bare arms and covered her legs in a sensual way. Her white flowery accessory stood out against her black locks, multiplying her cuteness factor by a hundred. She was a knockout.

"So? What do you think?" Sayo blurted out.

It was then that his brain conveniently decided to step outside for a nice, long walk. Left with the barest amount of intellect, Tatsumi managed to speak in a broken manner.

"Very- You look- Wow-"

It would have been a wonderful evening for Tatsumi if his brain did not return to his cranium with a crash. Shards of memory flashed through his mind and he spoke the one word that somehow managed to connect the stunning beauty presently standing before him and the green haired guy with which he spent a few short minutes of conviviality with.

"-Buttock."

Oops.

Tatsumi gave himself a mental slap.

Sayo flushed crimson.

"IDIOT!" she shouted, drawing attention from other shoppers and the store's attendants.

"I'm sorry! It was an accident!" Tatsumi panicked.

"LIKE HELL IT WAS!"

"Calm down, Sayo!" Tatsumi said, worried by the annoyed looks their onlookers were giving them. "You're making a scene!"

"_I'M_ MAKING A SCENE? HOW DARE YOU, YOU SICK PERVERT!" she continued to rant. Sayo grabbed him by his neck and started yelling various insults into his throat. He closed his eyes, imagining the various methods with which she would definitely end him with afterwards. No - she both loves and hates him too much to do that. She will keep him alive, barely, torturing him constantly until he loses his mind and spends the rest of his life in a mental institution.

A strong hand gripped his shoulder. Tatsumi turned to see a thin-lipped shop attendant, but with his girth and muscled body he might as well have been a club bouncer.

"Sir, I'm afraid you have to leave."

A permanent ban to the clothing brand and a hearty slap later he finally arrived in his current conundrum, sitting against the alley wall in defeat and occasionally hitting his head against the bricks, reminding himself of his epic feat of stupidity.

She'll forgive him eventually, of that he was sure. They are far too mature to hold a grudge against each other for extended periods of time, though Tatsumi wished the same could be said about Ieyasu. His fool of a friend was stuck in their inn room after he tried to peek at Sayo showering last night, and she had him locked up in their room for.. two days now? Three? His snacks must be running out. She even bribed the innkeeper to ignore whatever desperate screams would come out of their room.

Tatsumi shivered.

Women are scary.

He finally stood up and brushed himself off. It will probably take the rest of the day for Sayo to cool off. He just have to find a way to spend it without her. No big deal.

Right?

So off he went, traipsing around the bustling streets of the Capital.

_This way._

_No, this way._

_Pretty sure the inn's right over here._

_Or there._

_Or everywhere._

Tatsumi groaned.

_Why not admit it?_

_He's lost._

_Great._

He has no idea where he is.

Maybe he can find out if he asked some locals.

Entering a coffee shop, Tatsumi ordered a nice cup of the miraculous brew to keep him on his feet. He was exhausted, and in more ways than one. Who knew women could be so demanding?

Men. That's who.

He stood up to pay the barista but was harshly reminded of the fact that Sayo was holding their collective funds.

Could this day get any better?

"I, uh, forgot my wallet. Can I pay you later?"

The kind woman who had served him his coffee mutated into a raging demon.

"That's what a lot of people say!" she said brightly, her voice laced with poison. "But I'm here to make sure that you'll pay!"

She produced a whip from under the counter.

As much as Tatsumi appreciated her rhymes, he had to get out of here before he gets into trouble. He can't afford to lose his scholarship over a silly scuffle in some godforsaken coffee shop. If he got into trouble for this Sayo would kill him. Again. And probably Ieyasu, too.

"Need some help?" a new voice appeared.

Tatsumi turned to see a beautiful girl with amber hair and matching eyes winking at him. She licked a gigantic lollipop seductively before flashing him a friendly smile.

He's a country boy, but he's not completely oblivious to the reality of life.

"What's the catch?" he asked warily.

"Sit with me." she deadpanned. "or you can go ahead and deal with Big Bertha. You should know that she's a sexual deviant. She keeps her victims chained up in her basement until they pay her off.. in one way or another."

Now that she mentioned it, Tatsumi could see himself rotting away in the dusty basement of a sadistic barista. The leather whip 'Big Bertha' was holding while staring at him was the last thing he needed to seal his decision.

He sighed and nodded. The girl walked up to the counter and paid his bill. She turned around and extended her free hand towards him.

"Name's Chelsea. Pleased to meet you." Chelsea greeted.

"Yeah. You too." Tatsumi replied.

He just has to sit with a pretty girl for awhile. He could do worse. Right?

"So, what brings you to the Capital?" he asked nervously.

Chelsea eyed him while continuing to lick her lollipop before giving him an answer.

"I'm learning fashion design at the Imperial Academy. Second semester. And you, country boy?"

How could she tell?

"You look like a lost sheep." she said, reading his mind.

"I'm attending IA, too." Tatsumi said. Great! Now that they shared something in common, can he leave?

Chelsea scooted her chair closer to him and continued licking her lollipop silently.

Are you sure Bertha's the sexual deviant here?

"What major?"

"I'm going to the military division, actually." Tatsumi clarified.

"Why?" Chelsea asked without missing a beat.

"I want to help people." Tatsumi said sincerely. "My friends and I - we come from a remote village on a mountain down south. It was harsh living and the village barely survives winter. The elder helped us save money so that we can attend the Imperial Academy and get good jobs. Then we can send money back to rebuild-"

Chelsea yawned. Her eyelids fluttered shut.

Tatsumi's eyebrows twitched with annoyance.

_Sorry I bored you. It's not like you asked._

He was about to make a rude comment when she suddenly stretched like a cat and gave him an amused look.

"So how did you get here?" Chelsea asked. "Your girlfriend ditch you or something?"

Tatsumi blushed but decided to humor the amber haired girl. He began with Ieyasu's punishment for being a stupid pervert, trapped within the confines of their inn room for two days with nothing more than a bag of chips and a bottle of water. Continuing to more recent events, he recounted his and Sayo's crusade for clothing in the fashion district, his unfortunate acquaintance and his blonde partner, and his miraculously idiotic slip of the tongue, at which he earned a condescending chuckle from his audience.

"And now you're here." Chelsea summed up. "With no money, no idea where to go and a pissed off girl at your heels."

"Don't remind me." Tatsumi sighed, leaning back on his seat.

"Come." she said, getting up to her feet. She stood up and threw the stick of her lollipop into a trash can before glancing at him again. He merely looked at her, baffled.

"Well?" she asked.

"What?" Tatsumi asked, confused.

"You're dead meat in the capital if you don't know where to go, country boy" Chelsea said, unwrapping a new lollipop. "I'm offering you a walk home."

"Why are you doing all this for me?" Tatsumi asked, genuinely confused.

Her eyes twinkled.

"For favors. We're attending the same university, right? Who knows, maybe I'll need a helping hand in a tight spot or two. Not that you look like you can do much, but I'll take what I can get."

"..."

"It's not gonna be that bad!" Chelsea assured him, but her playful tone says otherwise. "Or do you want to deal with Big Bertha again?"

He considered the latter option for awhile, but discovered that he really doesn't wanna know what the demoness uses her whip for.

"Let's go." Tatsumi sighed.

"Smart decision, country boy." Chelsea smirked.

She grabbed his hand and dragged him into the streets.

_What has he gotten himself into?_

* * *

Tatsumi watched as Chelsea somehow produced another lollipop. He had kept a careful eye on her to find out where she was keeping her snacks, but they seemed to magically appear in her hands every time she ran out.

"Aren't you going to get sick or something?" Tatsumi asked, slightly disgusted by the amber haired girl's sugar intake.

"Then I'll have lived a good life." she replied with a slurp to her fresh lollipop. "Wouldn't you prefer sweet and short over long and bitter?"

"A-Anyway, where are you taking me? I thought we're going to my Inn-"

"You mentioned something about looking for a cheap apartment right? I know a place."

"You make it sound as if you're a drug dealer or something."

"Drugs. No. Candies, maybe. Want one?" she asked, offering him a plastic wrapped lollipop. It was pink and dotted with red stars.

"Um.. no thanks."

"Your loss." she sighed.

She led him through a maze of alleyways into the residential district.

"Stop looking like a country boy." Chelsea chortled.

"What are you talking about?" Tatsumi asked.

"You have this idiotic grin permanently stuck to your face."

"You have this weird headset permanently stuck to your head."

Chelsea stopped moving.

"I.. I'm deaf." she whispered sadly. She touched her headset gingerly. "I can't hear without it."

Tatsumi was mortified.

_By the Gods, how many girls can you piss off in one day, you loud mouthed idiot?!_

And then he noticed the corners of her mouth twitching. She noticed him noticing and exploded into a bout of shameless laughter. Tatsumi turned away from her, red faced and mentally punched himself for falling for the trick.

"You should have seen your face!" she snickered.

"That was low!" Tatsumi accused, walking away.

"Hey, come on, it's just a joke." she said, still chuckling.

"Who pretends to be disabled for a joke!?" Tatsumi asked, infuriated. "You shouldn't be taking advantage of people's kindness like that!"

"Hey, take it easy,_ hero_." Chelsea said sacrastically, any traces of her previous laughter gone, replaced with mild annoyance. "It's the Capital, after all. If you're looking for 'kindness', you're looking at the wrong place."

"Yeah, well.. Nobody in my village would ever do that." Tatsumi said, his anger abated.

"Which is why I call you country boy." Chelsea replied, raising her eyebrows.

"Stop calling me that!"

"You never told me your name." she pointed out.

"T-Tatsumi." he mumbled. "Sorry."

A moment later, his eyes narrowed.

"You mentioned that to change the topic, didn't you?!"

Chelsea's amused laughter echoed through the narrow streets once more.

"This is it." Chelsea said, placing her hand on her hips.

"Looks nice." Tatsumi complimented.

"Thanks."

They stood before a simple apartment building. It has red brick walls and a brown rooftop. Small flowers decorated the outside of the window sills. The front lawn, though small, was clean and well maintained. No, scratch that. The whole building looks nearly flawless. Even the red bricks were clean and aligned with uncanny precision.

"It's pretty close to the Imperial Academy." Chelsea said. "Pretty cheap rent, too."

"What's the catch?" Tatsumi asked immediately.

"That was fast." Chelsea said, amusement twinkling in her eyes. "The catch would be.. an interesting landlord and.. eccentric roommates."

"You make it sound like a mental asylum." Tatsumi said in exasperation. "I mentioned I have two friends with me, right? Are you sure there's enough room for them, too?"

"We can sort the details out later." Chelsea said, knocking on the door. "Let's go."

"Hey, wait! Don't you think this is a little.. fast?"

"Hey Susan!" Chelsea shouted, ignoring his complaints. "Open up!"

_A female landlord, huh?_ Tatsumi thought. _That's interesting. Not a lot of women own property these-_

The door opened.

"Welcome back, Chelsea. I was just churning some soup. Who is this young man?"

A powerfully built man towered over him, clothed with kitchen apron and holding a giant stirring rod. He had a short stubble on his chin, striking violet eyes and handsome, shaggy dark blue hair. He had a neutral expression on his face and seems to be sizing me up. Soup dripped from the stirring rod he was holding.

"This is Tatsumi. He's interested in renting-"

Susan..? swooped down to the entrance steps and started dabbing off the soup that had dropped on to the ground with a napkin.

"I told you to stop calling me Susan, Chelsea." the man (Susan? Really?) said disapprovingly.

Chelsea ignored him as well.

Tatsumi sent the man a look of sympathy. He did not return it.

Gesturing to both of them, Chelsea introduced the naive country boy and neat freak landlord to each other.

"Tatsumi, meet Susanoo." she intentionally slurred the third syllable of his name. "Susanoo, Tatsumi. He's new in the capital and are going to attend the University as well."

Tatsumi found his hand clasped in a firm handshake. The blue haired man eyed him up like he was a piece of furniture.. and immediately moved to tuck in a part of his shirt that flowed over his pants. His groin, to be more precise. Tatsumi backpedaled away to see Chelsea look on with amusement and Susanoo frowning. The landlord did not seem to find anything wrong with molesting a potential client. Sure, it was a brief over-the-clothes action, but save it for the second date. He's not Ieyasu.

"Call me Sano." he said, brushing off his hand. Really?

"P-Pleased to meet you." Tatsumi said, trying to make do with whatever is left of the mess he was in.

"You said you're interested in renting a place?" the landlord said. Tatsumi nodded. "Chelsea mentioned you're new in the capital."

"Yeah. It's only been two days. I still have no idea how to get anywhere.. or where to go, actually."

"Then come in. You must be tired." Susan..oo? ushered him inside the immaculate apartment.

Tatsumi found himself in a cozy living room. Pristine tapestries decorated the walls and the furniture looked as if they were painstakingly measured and placed with mechanical precision. A mind boggling amount of sweets, ranging from small cakes and cookies to candies and lollipops. Chelsea sauntered over to the cache of diabetic delights and took a dozen lollipops, stuffing them unceremoniously inside her vest. She kept one, unwrapped it and proceeded to lick away.

Another mystery solved.

"Shushan likesh thingsh neat." Chelsea mumbled through her lollipop.

"Chelsea, please." Susanoo sighed. "Call me anything but that."

Chelsea seemed to consider his demand.

"Nope."

Figures.

"So.." Tatsumi started.

"I need to tend to my soup before it boils over." Susanoo said, heading to the kitchen.

"I'll go change." Chelsea said, going up a staircase.

And thus he was ditched for the second time that day, and by two people at once.

_Can this day get any worse?_ Tatsumi thought. _Actually, I don't want to know the answer._

He sat down on one of the living room's many couches. It was red and soft, as if it was washed yesterday. Knowing his potential landlord, it probably was. He stared at the ungodly mass of sugar piled on the table before him.

Back in his village such luxuries are considered yearly treats. With the southern economy as it is, nobody could afford sweets, even those most villagers would consider relatively well-off. And now, it looks as if the people in this place can afford to inhale these treats like air. Tatsumi eyes a tempting piece of lollipop standing out in the middle of the pile and licked his mouth. He realized he hasn't eaten for the better part of the day and reached for the lollipop.

_She eats them by the dozen. I'm a guest, right? I can take one_. Tatsumi reasoned.

A flash of black hair blinded him for a split second, forcing his eyes to close reflexively. When he opened them again, he saw the razor sharp edge of a kitchen knife. And a raven haired girl with a bland expression on her face.

"Thief." she deadpanned, raising the knife for a killing blow. "Eliminate."

He shrieked in an unmanly fashion and pushed back against the couch. They both toppled over. Sweets and cookies flew everywhere across the room. The girl lost grip of the kitchen knife. Sweet jars fell and shattered on the floor. Tatsumi took the opportunity to run for the door. He's had enough of this madness.

Only to find a near similar copy of his first assailant standing guard with a murderous expression on her face. It was bad enough that he stumbled across something as dangerous as a kitchen knife today. You know what's worse than a kitchen knife? Two of them.

The younger girl raised one of her knives to him.

"Mine." she hissed.

"Wha-?" Tatsumi blubbered. He looked to where she was pointing and saw the crumbly remains of a cookie jar he had accidentally crushed during the ambush. Unfortunately, he also saw the first girl get to her feet, her knife reclaimed.

"Eliminate." the red eyed girl muttered.

"MINE!" the younger girl shrieked.

"AAAAGH!" the green eyed boy shrieked.

"Hold it." the horn-haired man said.

_Wait._

A man with a hairstyle beyond human comprehension moved in to his rescue. He fended of both girls with bulging, shaven arms and proceeded to wound them around Tatsumi's shoulders.

_What?_

"Bulat." the red eyed girl said. "Thief. Eliminate."

"He broke my cookies." the younger girl said venomously. "I want to kill him."

"He's a guest here!" Bulat said with a tone that made Tatsumi cringe. The bigger man's proximity to his added to his mounting discomfort. "We should not kill our guests, Akame! Even if they were trying to steal our food!"

Eh?

"Hey, that was her fault!" Tatsumi protested. Bulat ignored him, preoccupied with running his fingers through his hair. "Especially if they're.. cute."

WHAT?

_"Bulat's gay." the younger girl said._

_No. No. No._

"Kurome! Don't give him the wrong idea!"

_**HE DIDN'T EVEN DENY IT!**_

Tatsumi broke away from Bulat's embrace and leaned against the wall on the other side of the room, breathing erratically. He considered break out and fleeing through the window sill, but then Susanoo would probably hunt him down for tainting his immaculate property.

"He was alone when I found him." Akame said.

"If I have the story right, he was looking for an apartment and Chelsea brought him here. She's upstairs and Sano needed to finish his soup. He told me about it."

_Thank you, gay man. Even if you were trying to cop a feel on me._

"He broke my cookies." Kurome hissed again.

"Is that all you care about?" Tatsumi shouted.

"Cookies are very important." her eyes glinted with steely murder.

_Is there no end to-_

"DINNER IS READY!" Susanoo's baritone voice rang out.

"Great!" Kurome exclaimed, any indicators to her previous behaviour disappearing in a flash. Akame still looked at him with suspicion, toying with the kitchen knife.

"We can always kill him later." Bulat reasoned with her.

"I suppose." Akame conceded.

She followed Kurome to the next room.

Was that supposed to reassure me? I gave the horn haired guy a look.

Bulat winked and started for the dining room as well.

Good. It's his chance to get out of this inhuman asyl-

"WHAT HAPPENED!?" Susanoo shouted.

Tatsumi realized Bulat's wink was not a flirty one. It was one of cunning, laced with sly intent and a hint of amusement of what was about to come.

The truth struck him.

They all ditched him on purpose.

Susanoo walked into the living room slowly, a dark blue aura emanating from his stiff posture. He eyed the room; the cookie crumbs staining the carpet, candy wrappers strewn across the floor, lollipop shards sticking out of the couch..

"You."

The blue haired man took a step towards Tatsumi.

No.. not like this.

He closed his eyes.

Not like this.

* * *

"Well, have you?"

"I.. may have seen a person with your description. But he was a horrid customer! Why would I help him?"

Rewind back an hour ago and we can find a calmer Sayo sitting on her bed in the inn, pondering whether or not her punishment was worth a slip of tongue. Knowing Tatsumi, it's impossible for him to spit out vulgarity on purpose.

He'll be fine, of course. He's smart and resourceful. He can last a night in the capital. She can only hope he'll find someone who can show him the way back to the Inn.

She finally released Ieyasu from his torturous prison of an inn after two days of absolute boredom. If there's anything that uncouth idiot can't stand, it's not being able to do anything. She found him slump on the bed looking depressed.

Sayo thought about the other friend she ditched behind.

_I wonder how he's doing?_

_Sitting in the alley, shivering in the cold?_

_Starving and thirsty, cold and sad?_

Okay, she may feel more than a little bad.

So she set off into the night to find her missing friend. Considering the places he might be, Sayo went to the alley where she abandoned him. Finding it empty, she entered to a nearby coffee shop and asked if anyone had seen a boy with brown hair, green eyes, dirty clothes and an angry red slap mark on his cheek. Possibly.

One of the employees perked her head up at her description of Tatsumi. Sayo immediately honed in on the barista and here she was, sipping a warm frappucino at eight o'clock in the night. The coffee shop was about to close and the customers were few enough that the barista could spare a few moments to talk with her.

"So what if I saw him?" Bertha said gruffly, cleaning a mug from behind the counter. "I don't know the guy!"

"Please tell me if you saw where he went. He's new in the city and probably has no idea where to go."

"He didn't even pay for his coffee!" Bertha complained, scrubbing off a blender with increasing fervor. "Says he's got nothin'! What kind of idiot orders something if he doesn't have money?" The blender's plastic cracked and the barista sighed.

Sayo's hands went instinctively to the money pouch on her belt.

Oops. Sorry Tatsumi. she mentally apologized.

"Please?" she said, putting on her best I'm begging you face. "He's my friend and I can't sleep knowing he's lost.. and cold.. and-"

"Look," Bertha groaned, "If you really wanna know, one of my regulars took him with her. Paid his coffee, too."

"Do you know where she lives?" Sayo brightened.

" Down the street thataways. Apartment building, red bricks, brown roof tiles, so neat you can't miss it."

"Thanks!" she said.

Opening the coffee shop door with a creak, she set out to find her lost love interest.

* * *

"What did I do to deserve this?" Tatsumi grumbled through his teeth.

"You wrecked the living room and trashed Kurome's cookies." Chelsea said.

"YOU, TOO!?" Tatsumi sighed in exasperation.

Chelsea laughed. "Knowing Akame, I think I can figure out what happened."

"So why didn't you tell that to Susanoo?" Tatsumi complained.

"Because it's fun watching you scrub the bathroom floor."

"That's it?" he asked in bewilderment.

"Well, I also wanted to get out of my scrubbing shift this week."

His scream of frustration was heard throughout the entire neighborhood.

"_Is that a girl?" a little boy asked his mother._

"_Damned robbers nowadays." an old man mumbled._

"_I think someone's in trouble." a woman told her husband._

Indeed, Tatsumi was currently hunched over the apartment bathroom, which was covered with patches of moss, fungal growths and dirt. It was such a disgusting job Tatsumi could understand why Chelsea would want to get out of having to do it, but doing so at his expense..

Tatsumi glanced up to give her a murderous look. Chelsea ignored him.

Chelsea had convinced everyone that he can pay off the mess in the living room by working for them for the rest of the night, but they used him like a slave. He dusted the attic, cleaned up the dining room, wiped the windows and rearranged the flower vases.

All the while Kurome was yelling at him, throwing insults, and Akame eyed him while holding a kitchen knife like a serial killer. Bulat gave him creepy smiles and told the green eyed boy to call him bro. He's never been forced to call anyone bro before. Nobody ever called anybody bro in his village before. To add to his growing list of pains, Susanoo would glare at him whenever he crossed the landlord's line of sight and Chelsea kept laughing at his expense.

"Country boy!" Kurome said through the other room. "The kitchen's next! Go do the dishes!"

Chelsea unwrapped another lollipop. She tossed the wrapper on the bathroom floor.

"Missed a spot." she winked.

She promptly received a bucket of water to her face.

Unhealthy gray water trickled down her shirt and on her shorts. Her eyes were closed and she sputtered water. Her amber hair was drenched to the tips. It was Tatsumi's turn to laugh, but he faltered when he saw her lips form a twisted smile.

"Very funny, country boy." she hissed, grabbing a nearby hose.

"It was a joke!"

"The moment you touch a girl's hair, it's no longer a joke." she explained.

_Ah. Right._

Well.

_Shit._

Sayo knocked on the door nervously.

Her first impression of the apartment building was how ridiculously clean it is. The front lawn was mowed perfectly, decorated with artistically shorn bushes and symmetrically aligned flowers. Even the grass seemed to grow in rows. When banging on the front lawn fence didn't work, she stepped into the yard. There's no way she could've gotten the building wrong - the barista had said it was so neat she couldn't miss it, and Sayo was inclined to agree.

"Um, hello?" Sayo said, not wanting to shout. It was past the tenth hour and she was loathe to wake anybody up. That said, most of the city appeared to be awake, if the countless lights shining on the road lamps and apartment windows were anything to go by. Sayo looked forward to studying with decent lighting instead of the candlelight they had to make do back then. The simple things in life these people take for granted are considered luxuries in the village.

When no one came to answer the door, Sayo began to reconsider her decision. Tatsumi's probably not here anymore. Either that or the barista was playing a prank on her. She'll go back for now and-

The door opened to reveal a girl with red eyes and black hair. She wore black pajamas and a red tie.

_Who wears ties at ten o'clock at night?_

"Can I help you?" the girl asked with a monotone voice.

"Y-Yeah," Sayo started. "I'm trying to find my friend. You see, I kind of ditched him and took the money with me and somebody told me he came here."

"Soft green eyes, brown hair, big ears, light vest, black pants, bad manners, dimple on the bottom right cheek?" the girl said in rapid fire.

"Is he here?" Sayo asked, trying to hide the fact that she was slightly creeped out by the amount of information the girl had gathered about him in less than a day. Is this a capital culture thing?

She nodded.

"Can I see him?" Sayo asked again.

"She nodded and sidestepped so Sayo can enter.

"T-Thanks." Sayo said, abandoning her sandals and stepping inside the building gingerly.

Despite all her bravado in their first three days in the capital, Sayo was just as clueless as her other two companions when it comes to inner city culture and mannerisms. She hoped she wouldn't embarrass herself further and resolved to prove her adaptability to her host.

The red eyed girl closed the door, locked it and gestured for Sayo to follow her inside the house. She did.

They entered a surprisingly empty living room. A kitchen knife stuck out of the couch, the table was broken in two and a short haired girl was sitting in the middle of the room, staring at a jar of cookie crumbs mournfully. Decorative paintings hung at odd angles, pieces of the walls paint were chipped and a section of the carpet was dirty with.. cake?

Sayo raised an eyebrow at the peculiar sight.

"His fault." the black haired girl said.

"Tatsumi's?" Sayo asked.

"Presumed thief. Currently sentenced to scrub duty." she continued, going up a flight of stairs. Sayo moved to follow her but bumped into an extended hand instead.

"I am Akame." the girl said. "May I have your name?"

Introductions! She forgot! So much for cultural adaptability.

"I'm Sayo." Sayo smiled apologetically. They started walking up the steps.

"Your friend. What's his name?" Akame asked.

"Tatsumi. He didn't introduce himself either?"

"Is not introducing yourself a common custom in the countryside?" Akame inquired.

"N-No! We just.. forgot. Sorry." Sayo said.

"No consequence. Necessary information acquired." Akame replied robotically.

Is this how locals speak? No, other people she encountered spoke normally enough. Akame was.. well, weird.

Back to Tatsumi. So he got in trouble. Typical. He's always been an idiot, especially around woman. Although.. she supposed it was her fault he was even here in the first place.

"He is here." Akame said, stopping at a brown wooden door. There were sounds of running water on the other side of the door. He must be working hard to make up for the mess downstairs. And it's her fault. Ah, enough of that. He'll be fine.. Still her fault though.

Sayo breathed deeply and prepared an apology for her green eyed friend.

The door opened.

And her jaws dropped open.

The scene Sayo saw was quite complicated and therefore requires several descriptions regarding the situation within the bathroom.

Prior to her entering the room, Tatsumi was taking cover behind the shower curtain. Chelsea were faster in grabbing the water hose attached on the wall and therefore have acquired superior firepower to his rather primitive bucket. She can afford to continue wasting away at the country boy, pressing on the tip to create a painful focusing effect. The hose was made for Susanoo's daily showers - it was powerful enough to scrub the fur out of a danger beast. In Tatsumi's case, he had to fill it with tap water before throwing another nasty water bomb towards her. Despite his primeval weaponry, Tatsumi bolstered his arsenal with various shampoos and toiletries available in the shower. He uncapped the top of a "Flower Scented! Capital's Beauty special shampoo 50% off!" bottle and squirted its contents at his amber haired nemesis. A bucket bomb later, she was soaked with both dirty water AND bubbles.

"How'd you like that, huh?" Tatsumi taunted from behind the shower curtain.

"Doing such dirty things to a girl." Chelsea said. "You're a perfect match for Bertha!"

"Says the girl trying to spray my pants off!"

Chelsea kicked off the hose's safety ring. The water output increased threefold.

"You ruined my favorite shirt!" she complained.

She tore the curtain's open with a small geyser. His cover blown, the merciless stream of cleansing water blasted Tatsumi across the chest. He dropped his bucket and gurgled.

"He is here." Tatsumi heard Akame say faintly through the door.

Tatsumi sighed through the torrential river of hose water. It came out as a blurb.

It's probably going to be Kurome mouthing him off for not doing the dishes and attending to her every whim.

The hosing stopped.

"Go do the dishes yourself, woma-" Tatsumi started, glancing up-

Two jaws dropped simultaneously.

"TATSUMI?!"

"SAYO!?"

Sayo absorbed the entirety of the situation. A shirtless Tatsumi playing waterfighting with an amber haired girl with a wet shirt that revealed her-

No. No.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"

"IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE."

"It is." Chelsea interjected, smiling devilishly.

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" Tatsumi shouted.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Sayo screeched at Chelsea.

"Your girlfriend, Tatsumi?" Chelsea said, ignoring Sayo. "So I wasn't the only one.."

"CHELSEAAAA!" Tatsumi yelled.

"TATSUMI!" Sayo yelled.

"Please, everyone, it's past ten!" Susanoo said, stomping up the stairs. "The neighbors are going to complain ag- MY HOSE!" he shouted, uncharacteristic of his normally calm demeanor. He looked at the broken hose tap with horror.

"It's-" Tatsumi started.

"YOU'RE DEAD!" Sayo yelled again.

"NOT NOW, SAYO!" Tatsumi shouted back.

"Who ruined my hose?!" Susanoo exclaimed.

Chelsea pointed at Tatsumi.

* * *

Midnight.

The chaos in the bathroom had receded to a tense tea session in the dining room. Susanoo, Kurome and Akame sat on one side while Tatsumi, Sayo and Chelsea sat on the other. Poor Tatsumi was the only thing separating a seething Sayo and a suckling Chelsea from each other. Kurome was hugging a jar full of cookie crumbs, Akame was still holding that godsforsaken kitchen knife and Susanoo buried his face with his hands and sighed.

"In my defense, Chelsea was annoying me."

"One lollipop wrapper was hardly worth a ruined shirt and a bucket of water to the face." Chelsea said.

"You kicked the dust pan when I was cleaning the attic, you used the watering can to dirty the windows I just wiped, you had me do the bathroom so you can get out of-"

"Now, now, country boy." Chelsea hissed, placing a firm hand on his."Calling in the coffee favor."

"..Fine." Tatsumi relented. "But now we're even."

"She's doing favors for you now, huh?" Sayo snapped.

"Enough." Susanoo said. His voice was low but firm enough to draw the full attention of everyone on the table. "Let's.. get back to the issue here. You said you needed rent?"

"We do, but.. not here." Tatsumi said. "As you can see, we're not exactly compatible with this.. environment."

"Are you sure?" Susanoo raised an eyebrow. "I'm willing to overlook your blunders, provided you refrain from causing further problems, the rent is cheap and this place is relatively close to the Academy. You'd be hard pressed to find a better deal."

"Thank you for the offer," Tatsumi said, "but I don't think that'll be-"

"We'd be happy to live here." Sayo cut in softly, face downcast.

Tatsumi paused and gave her a look of confusion.

"What?" he said.

"I uh.. went into a shopping spree after I ditched you." Sayo said, fishing a crumpled shop receipt from her pocket. She handed it to Tatsumi hesitantly, and the others took note of the boy's dilating eyes and tensing posture.

"That bad? We can take Ieyasu's share if you want-"

"THREE THOUSAND IMPERIALS!" Tatsumi screeched. "WE DON'T EVEN HAVE THAT MUCH MONEY TO BEGIN WITH!"

"Isoldyoursword." Sayo said guiltily.

Tatsumi rose from his seat. Black aura exuded from his body and his emerald eyes grew dark. Chelsea moved her seat slightly further away from the country boy and

"I bought you some new clothes!" Sayo tried to appease him.

He cracked his knuckles. Sayo ran for it. Tatsumi chased her through the house and into the living room, where she took refuge behind an intact couch. There was a small standoff.

"You said you're doing favors, right?" Sayo tried to negotiate. "I'm calling in on the bathroom incident!"

Tatsumi feinted left and Sayo fell for it. A moment later Sayo ran out of the living room with Tatsumi hot on her heels.

"THAT WAS A MISUNDERSTANDING!" Tatsumi yelled, hot in pursuit. "SELLING MY SWORD IS NOT! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG IT TOOK FOR ME TO MAKE IT!?"

"I'll take that as a yes?" Susanoo said, eyeing the spectacle from the living room

"That settles it, then!" Chelsea said, standing up cheerfully. She walked up to a raging Tatsumi and placed a hand on his shoulders. He glanced back at her and relented a bit.

"Welcome home!" Chelsea said, smiling brilliantly. Tatsumi's anger temporarily faltered at the sight of her teasing grin and warm grip.

Sayo took the opportunity and dashed out of the building.

"Hello…? Tatsumi? Sayo? I said I'm sorry! Anyone!?" Ieyasu shouted.

A series of loud steps trailed closer into his room. Ieyasu eyes brightened hopefully.

A rude shout through the door extinguished what tiny candle of hope he had left.

"Shut up!" a rough female voice said.

"But you're the innkeeper! You have the keys! You can get me out, right!?

"So? The girl paid me enough to keep you locked up for the rest of the week and after hearing your peeping tom streak I'm inclined to turn that into months! So shut up before I cut off the power to your room!"

Ieyasu groaned in frustration and dropped back on his bed, mock smothering himself out of boredom. He reiterated his companion's thought on the opposite gender once more.

Women are scary, indeed.

* * *

**A/N: Changed things up a bit. Hopefully this makes it easier to read.**


	2. Unusual Routines

** Unusual Routines**

* * *

"By the gods, the Capital is hot."

"I thought you came from the countryside. Shouldn't you be used to it?"

"At least the countryside has trees. This place is a concrete jungle. And I came from a mountain village. You'd know that if you paid attention to anything I said."

"So grouchy. Perhaps I should leave you to search alone?"

"I'm pretty sure you'd rather stay around and screw me around."

"Screwing you sounds like something Sayo would want to do."

"Shut up."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll tell Sano about your hidden lollipop stash. He'll yell your head off about sugar intake for the rest of the day, and I think you don't want that.

"You're no fun." Chelsea smiled, though. The green eyed boy is getting better at the friendly banter she often indulges in. She'll have to come up with new tricks and blackmail soon.

Tatsumi, on the other hand, is merely enjoying the rare silence he is missing in the last four days. It has been one hell of a first week in the capital, and he felt as if everyone he's met was missing part of their brain somewhere.

Long story short, Sayo finally released Ieyasu after his three day starving marathon in the hellhole of an inn room. It didn't take long for Tatsumi to explain their current situation; how Sayo burnt off most of their money on an anger-induced shopping spree, his encounter with Chelsea and the ensuing drama and how Susanoo's offer is something they shouldn't refuse. With their first day in the Academy about to start in three days, they no longer have the luxury to look for a place to live in the Capital. What sealed the deal for Ieyasu, however, was the fact that there are four undeniably attractive girls living in the apartment.

Typical.

As for how Sayo managed to appease Tatsumi's wrath from selling his sword, he had forced her to return all but three sets of relatively cheap clothing to the various clothing stores she had bought them from in the fashion district. She did so, albeit grumpily, but one look from Tatsumi was enough to shut her up. It was a rare sight to see, how the tables of turned in their relationship in the past few days, but Tatsumi's attachment to his sword, Venator, gave him more than enough courage to confront and subdue the black haired girl.

So deep was the attachment that he insisted Sayo tell him where she sold it. At first she was loathe to do so, as she believes that it's a waste of time that could be used to prepare for their first day in the Academy, but eventually she relented. She told him that she sold his sword at a pawn shop in the the shadier part of the fashion district. Why a fashion district pawn shop would accept swords is beyond his capabilities to reason.

* * *

_He asked her how much she sold Venator for. She raised three fingers tentatively._

"_Thirty thousand?"_

"_...Three hundred."_

_The coffee cup he was holding shattered._

"_That'll be sixty imperials." Big Bertha smentioned impassively._

"_You sold my sword.. that took me three months to forge.. for five cups' worth of MONEY!?" he shrieked._

"_I DIDN'T KNOW HOW MUCH IT'S WORTH! THE GUY ACTED LIKE I WAS RIPPING HIM OFF AND TOLD ME THREE HUNDRED WAS THE BEST HE COULD OFFE-"_

"_DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW TO BARGAIN, WOMAN?!"_

"_Look who's talking." Chelsea quipped. "You bought that sideroad trinket for six times the normal price."_

"_Why didn't you tell me that!? You were walking next to me!"_

"_You didn't ask."_

* * *

He stopped right there. He didn't want to remind himself of the abuse he endured under those two women. It was as if they were in league with the devil in trying to make his life as miserable as possible.

At least Chelsea was content in being silent at the moment, munching on her lollipop and tweaking with her headset. He has no idea whether or not she's actually listening to any sort of music but he doesn't really care enough to ask.

Sayo had given the general direction to the pawn shop and Chelsea volunteered to bring him there, claiming she knows the place. Despite his initial resentment and wariness about her tagging along for the sword-recovery trip, he had to since no one else wanted to accompany him, and he's not exactly familiar with the city.. yet.

The number of alleyways crisscrossing along this section of the fashion district made him feel uncomfortable. A shady bunch of people leaned against a nearby cafe that looked so rundown he wondered how the building is still standing. A shout from the street to the left drew his attention. A young man holding a floral-themed handbag seemed to be fleeing a trio of city guards, laughing gleefully. A distraught woman stood further back, yelling at other onlookers to stop the thief.

"Go on, _hero_." Chelsea said sarcastically. "Save the day. Get a kiss from the damsel in distress."

"What happened to being quiet?"

"I got bored."

Tatsumi sighed and moved forward to intercept the thief.

Chelsea watched in silent surprise as Tatsumi burst into a sprint. He overtook the thief in seconds, and grappled for the purse. She gasped when the man drew a knife and started stabbing at his pursuer, but Tatsumi deflected it at the handle, punched him at the wrist and delivered a shocking kick that must've cracked a few ribs. The delinquent was propelled backwards and slammed into a wall, unconscious. Tatsumi took the purse and handed it to the guards who arrived shortly after.

"We thank you for your assistance in delivering Justice!" a young woman in a captain's armor

Tatsumi scratched his head.

"Yeah, it was nothing." he blushed, secretly wanting to be showered with more praise.

"I am Seryu, Seryu Ubiquitous!" the woman introduced herself, extending a hand which Tatsumi took gingerly. The force at which she shook his hand made him grit his teeth. _Damn, she's strong._ "With your above average attributes, you must join our military division in the Academy!" Seryu continued.

"I am, actually."

"Rejoice! Another skilled warrior has joined our ranks! Justice shall prevail!" Seryu exclaimed happily. Her companions merely nodded tiredly in agreement. One of them sent him a look that said _Don't mind her, she's like that all the time._

"Um, right." Tatsumi said. "I'll be going now."

"Very well! See you in the morrow, warrior of justice!" Seryu saluted him.

He saluted back, albeit with less grace and more awkward.

_Weird._

Tatsumi started walking towards a waiting Chelsea.

For now, he has an amber haired problem to deal with.

He had told her he was entering the military division, which warrants physical excellence, but the speed and skill with which he dispatched the the purse-snatcher was nothing short of incredible.

She was about to compliment the green eyed youth when he spoke first.

"I was pretty good, eh?" Tatsumi boasted, displaying his well toned biceps with pride. "He didn't even stand a chance!"

_Maybe not._

"You know there's a reward system for catching thieves in the Capital, right?" Chelsea said. "You could've gotten a thousand imperials for that."

"What!?" Tatsumi said, mortified.

"Country boy." Chelsea snickered.

"You could've told me that before I went!"

"You told me to shut up, didn't you?"

Tatsumi pulled at his hair in frustration. Chelsea merely laughed. He suddenly stopped and placed a hand on his forehead, trying to calm down.

"Whatever. Just get me to the pawnshop."

"Yeah, yeah." Chelsea said, another lollipop unwrapped.

"This is the place."

"Looks filthy."

"Sure does."

"I'm going in."

"I'll come with you."

"No."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You're gonna get scammed without me."

"You already scam me of my livelihood and sanity everyday."

"Touche. But I'm still coming in."

".. Fine. Just don't mess things up."

"If you haven't noticed, that's more in your department than mine."

Tatsumi wisely chose to remain silent.

He opened the door, which nearly fell off his hinges with the simple push. A bell rang out to signify the coming of a new customer.

In the pawn shop's defense, the inside looks much better than the exterior. Tatsumi doesn't know a lot about business, but if even if one is short on funds, isn't it better for it to be the other way around? Lure customers in with false advertising or something.

There is one confusing thing about the insides of the pawn shop - it doesn't look like one. The front left corner was filled to the brim with shelves of books and various tomes. They looked ancient and outdated. The right side was covered with weird artifacts and such, the only part that seemed to resemble anything pawn-shop like. The center of the room sported eight tables, chairs and a small bar selling light snacks and alcohol.

_Just what is this place?_

An employee came out of a door at the back and greeted them.

"Hello, welcome to- Hey, it's you!"

That voice. That hair.

"Buttock?"

The green haired man smacked himself in the face.

"Five minutes and that's what you remember. Figures."

"You know each other?" Chelsea asked curiously.

"Not exactly." Tatsumi said, scratching his head. "You know when Sayo ditched me in the clothing store? We met there."

"Well, it's nice to meet you and all, but is there anything I can help you with?" Lubbock said. "Books, tomes, trinkets, homemade bombs?"

"With all this stuff around I might actually believe in that last item." Tatsumi laughed. He then shifted into a more serious state. "But that's not actually why I'm here."

"Shoot." Lubbock said, leaning on the bar counter, his interest piqued.

"A sword." Tatsumi sighed. "The girl I mentioned back then ditched me at the clothing store and sold off my only sword."

Lubbock whistled in sympathy.

"Women." he said.

"Women." Tatsumi agreed.

"Men." Chelsea interjected cheekily.

"What does that have to do with our shop?" Lubbock asked.

"She said she sold it to you. Do you have it?"

"Well, if she did, then its not during my shift." Lubbock said. "Let me go ask the others. Hang tight."

He disappeared through the backdoor.

"Not looking so good." Chelsea remarked.

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

Silence.

"He's lying, by the way." Chelsea said nonchalantly.

"What?" Tatsumi asked, confused.

"When he said it wasn't his shift." Chelsea added. "I wager he knew it was a good sword and is about to run off just about-"

The loud bang of a door further back in the building emphasized her last word.

"-now."

"The hell!?" Tatsumi shouted in anger, vaulting over the snack bar and bursting through the door at the back of the room. "YOU COULD'VE TOLD ME THAT EARLIER!"

"You told me to stay silent." Chelsea said, shaking her head at the passionate youth. "Well, might as well go along for the ride."

Dropping a lollipop wrapper on a century-old trash bin, she calmly walked to catch up to her companion.

* * *

Lubbock didn't actually expect his short term acquaintance to be so fast. His time in military high school did his speed and stamina well, but the demonic rage with which his pursuer is chasing him at is way above his level. Is the sword really that important? Sure, he scammed the girl, but since she accepted the offer it was technically fair trade.

"BUTTOOOOOOOOOOOOOCK!" the young man shouted. Lubbock glanced back and saw him charging through the pawn shop alleyway like a lightning danger beast, knocking aside trash cans and trash bags alike. He doubled his running speed and fished a cell phone out of his uniform.

Time to call in the cavalry.

Punching buttons into his crappy cell, Lubbock raised it to his ear.

"H-Hello?"

"Yeah, Bols?" he said, turning right after exiting the alley. "Are you available right now?"

"I am, uh, cooking lunch for my fami-"

"Great! Get to 14th street as fast as you can!"

"O-Okay!"

The moment the word left the cell, Lubbock punched in another set of numbers.

Might as well rob him while he's down.

Hmmph. Maybe Leone rubbed off too much on him.

Lubbock headed through the crowded streets, talking into his cell as he ran.

_Where is he!? _Tatsumi thought, scanning the busy streets for the green eyed scammer. Surely there can't be too many people with HIS hair color…

.. THERE!

An oasis of green with a hint of a red headband among the sea of people.

He took off after him like mad.

It was hard going, wading through the crowds. The day's shift seems to have ended only a few minutes ago and the streets were flooded with workers; men, women, and children alike walked the wide road.

He nearly missed Lubbock entering another alleyway and followed him inside. The buildings at the sides looked imposing, casting a shroud of black on the contents of the alleyway. He saw two figures coming out of the shadows to meet him.

"Is this the guy?" a familiar busty blonde said.

"Do you see.. anyone else.. chasing me?" Lubbock said breathlessly.

"A lot of people would want to chase you."

"Of course, I'm a ladies' man."

"You've been dumped and duped eighteen times this month. I counted." she scoffed.

"Those are.. setbacks." the green haired man tried to deny.

"That's it!" Tatsumi shouted in anger, clenching his fist and raising it threateningly. "Give me my sword back!"

"Say, he's cute!" the blonde said in a seductive tone. "Maybe I get to keep him after?"

"After what?" Tatsumi asked warily.

"After we rob you, of course." Lubbock said nonchalantly, drawing a pair of iron baton from his belt. He brandished them skillfully and moved to flank him.

_You have GOT to be kidding me._

"Sorry about this, cutie, but you're gonna have to hand over that pouch of yours." the blonde said, punching her gauntleted fists together. "We can have fun afterwards, though!"

"Over my dead body."

"Nah, just your dead money." Lubbock taunted. "We've moving shop anyway, might as well grab a couple of more clients. I'm sure Boss won't mind."

Without his sword, Tatsumi is in serious disadvantage, and those two seem to know how to use their respective weapons. The smartest course of action would be to get the city guards or a viable weapon, but by the time he did, they'd be long gone.

_Oh well,_ he thought, breaking off part of a steel pipe from a nearby wall with a roundhouse kick. Water spurted out of the broken pipeline, drenching his shirt. _At least he's got this.. thing._

"Ooh, a fight!" the blonde said. "We haven't had a lot of those these days."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Leone." Lubbock said. "He's pretty damned fast."

They moved to two sides and rushed at him at once.

Tatsumi swung his makeshift iron bat at the blonde's direction. Fierce strength belied her beauty as she used her gauntlets to punch it out of the way, hitting it so hard the metal was dented and painful vibrations travelled through his arm. Lubbock moved to jab Tatsumi in the torso, but he barely managed to deflect it with the other end of the steel pipe. Realizing close combat is not an option, he leapt backwards, narrowly avoiding a powerful blow from Leone and taking a moment's respite from the alleyway skirmish.

"Hey, you're right, Lubba." the well-endowed beauty giggled. "He IS pretty fast!"

Tatsumi clenched his teeth

"I'm very sorry!" an alien voice said.

Tatsumi found himself wrapped in the painful embrace of two arms. The strength in those arms was beyond anything he ever experienced. He dropped his metal bat with a gasp and found himself being raised off his feet. He glanced behind him and, to his horror, found a giant of a brute holding his body. He was naked waist up, well-built body shining with sweat, but the most horrifying feature of them all was that his face was covered with an intimidating gas mask.

"I'm very sorry, mister!" the brute apologized.

_Eh?_

"Bols, we told you to stop saying sorry to the people you rob!" Leone scolded.

"I.. I can't help it! I feel bad for doing this!" Bols said nervously.

_You've gotta be kidding me, #2._

"_If you're.. really sorry._." Tatsumi gasped, clawing at the giant's beefy arms. "_Then get your… hands off me!"_

"I'm very sorry, but I can't." Bols said, his voice conflicted. "Lubbock and Leone are my friends. Nobody wanted to helped my family, but they did. I must help my friends!"

"I agree but.. not like this!" Tatsumi gasped.

"Bols, get his pouch." Lubbock shouted.

Bols held him with one hand with ease and started groping his waistline for the last bit of money he managed to get from returning Sayo's clothes.

_No! Dammit! I've got to-_

Tatsumi suddenly feel the strength in those arms dissipate.

Bols froze, gasped once and toppled to the ground. Tatsumi fell as well, but managed to dampen the shock of his sudden fall with his hands. He turned back to thank his well-timed saviour but discovered an amber haired girl smiling at him condescendingly.

"You're hopeless, you know that?" Chelsea said, standing behind the fallen man.

"What.. did you do to me?" Bols said, body twitching but unable to get up.

"Directed acupuncture." Chelsea replied, twirling a small needle between her fingers. "Don't worry, you'll be up in no time. And by no time I mean when the guards get here. That's right, I called the guards."

She smiled at Tatsumi, biting off a chunk of lollipop to munch on.

"In the meantime, let's get these two, shall we, country boy?"

"You can't! You took that guy by surprise, but they're better! Besides, I don't have my-"

She tossed him a one handed iron sword, the city guards' standard. Where she might have acquired it, he has no idea.

"-sword?" Chelsea grinned. "It's not yours, but it should do."

"Hey, the cutie's mine!" Leone complained, raising her gauntleted fist at Chelsea. "You can't have him!"

"Enough of this." a new voice shouted. A white haired woman with an eyepatch appeared from the shadows of the back alley. A shadowy miasma surrounded her face. She wore a suit with... chest lingerie? The fashion statement did nothing to alleviate her threatening posture, but it wasn't directed towards him at all. "Lubba, give him his sword back."

"Boss? But.. why?"

"We're not moving base." the woman said, taking a deep draft from her cigarette. "That's the stuff..." she exhaled, puffing a small cloud at Tatsumi's direction. He coughed. "Not yet. So until then, you will stop scamming people until our business in this district is over with. Got it?"

".. fine." Lubbock said grouchily.

"Najenda, you're ruining the fun!" Leone complained again.

The older woman ignored her and directed her stare towards Tatsumi.

"Listen, boy." Najenda said. "We're giving you your sword back on one condition - you don't tell the city guard about us."

"What, and let you rob other people blind again?" Tatsumi hissed. "Not by a long shot."

Najenda sighed. "We don't like doing this as much as Bols over there does. Well, except Leone, that is."

"It's not robbing! It's.. forceful sharing, that's all." the blonde laughed.

"The point is, we're almost done getting the money we need to move to a better part of the city." Najenda continued, walking towards the green eyed boy calmly. "I promise you that we will not rob anyone anymore. You've seen this part of the district, haven't you? It's a hellhole for lowlives. We merely wish to get out. Whatever we did was motivated out of pure necessity - nothing less, nothing more. Do you understand?"

"Why should I trust you on that?" Tatsumi asked suspiciously.

"Because I can kill you right here, right now, and am choosing not to." she said, raising a mechanical arm at him. Tatsumi took an involuntary step back at that threat. "Make your choice."

"I.." Tatsumi started. He assessed the situation. Chelsea was surprisingly calm, despite the three on two situation, but he wouldn't want to make a decision based on her mental state. She's crazy enough as it is. He's not used to this sword and the new woman seemed to be stronger than the other two. Otherwise, they wouldn't have obeyed her like that.

He made his choice.

"I accept." Tatsumi conceded, lowering his makeshift sword.

"Wise decision. Lubbock."

"Yeah, yeah."

The green haired man drew a long bundle from his back and threw it to Tatsumi. He caught it and opened the cloth. It was his sword, Venator, albeit with a few new scratches here and there.

"Count yourself lucky." Lubbock said. "Boss isn't usually this nice."

"Don't make me regret this, boy." she threatened. "Let's go."

Lubbock moved to shoulder his disabled friend with a grunt.

"Hasten, my friends!" a familiar voice shouted in the distance. "Fellow warriors of justice are in need of aid!"

"See you around!" Leone smiled, leaping up to the rooftops to join her companions. Their footsteps faded away and Tatsumi sighed in relief.

"We could've delayed them." Chelsea pointed out. "The guards were coming."

"Yeah, well, we should be going, too." Tatsumi said. "I wouldn't want to stick around to explain this to the guards."

They left the alleyway and blended into the crowds, much to the confusion of the guards, who found an empty alleyway devoid of thieves and other evildoers. Seryu's annoyed voice followed them as they went further down the street, talking about a lying amber haired woman who stole her sword.

He raised an eyebrow at that remark, but Chelsea was simply smiling, looking ahead. His eyes widened when he realized she was holding onto his hand, and was even more surprised that he didn't want to let it go.

"Where did you learn how to do that thing with the needles?" Tatsumi asked, curious.

"I lived in the slums for most of my childhood." Chelsea said, uncharacteristically somber. She whipped out a needle out of her sleeves and twirled it around like an expert. "It was hard living. A girl's gotta learn to take care of herself."

"Sorry." Tatsumi said.

"Don't be. It helped save your ass today, didn't it?" she smiled.

"About today… thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"Fine, then I won't."

Her laughter was pleasant music that accompanied the fading evening into the night.

* * *

It was just another day in the Capital, which means birds aren't chirping, kids aren't playing and the homeless beggar on the alley corner is actually out to rob you. Wait, no. It's not just another day in the capital. It's the day where fifteen thousand three hundred and fifty four freshmen will attend the Imperial Academy for the first time.

Hundreds of people from all walks of life flood the streets in the early morning rush; a circus group rushed out the bar, running like madmen trying to make it to their performance on time; a group of schoolkids were making a scene at a snackstore; a tired looking bunch of men and women followed an enthusiastic captain, an.. expressive – woman with zealous eyes who was babbling something about justice never shirking from duty, even on cruel Monday mornings.; and finally, a group of four youths walking down the street with obvious tension between them.

Tatsumi, Chelsea, Sayo and Ieyasu were walking in a staggered line – Chelsea on the lead, followed by a nervous Tatsumi, an annoyed Sayo and a whistling Ieyasu.

Chelsea had "volunteered" to accompany the three freshmen on their first day in the Imperial Academy. Granted, they all belong to different divisions with the exception of Sayo, who is going to the same building as Chelsea for her first class in Fashion Design. Tatsumi has been selected for an accelerated course in the Military Division while Ieyasu was stuck in the less-than-preferable auxiliary division as a result of his poorer grades.

The past few days has been a blur of crazy activities and feminine madness. Chelsea dragged him off one morning, claiming that she should help him get his stationaries and equipment in order. He would've been fine with that, but instead of going to the Smiths and Crafts district she brought him to the same coffee shop where they first met. Big Bertha eyed him warily as they entered, unconsciously applying stronger and stronger strength to the blender she was cleaning until the glass audibly cracked. Tatsumi could actually feel soulburn from her stare.

"What are you doing?" Tatsumi asked warily, not grasping the reason behind her latest stunt.

"Getting us some coffee." Chelsea shrugged. "Hey Bertha! Regular for me, and.. how do you take your coffee?"

"I.." Tatsumi sighed. "One cream, three sugars."

"You heard him."

"You gonna let the lady pay for you again, country boy?" Bertha mocked, brewing their coffee expertly from behind the bar counter.

Chelsea snickered.

"I have my money this-" Tatsumi realized that in the morning rush, Chelsea had managed to drag him off without a single imperial in his pocket.

Chelsea placed her elbows on the table and gave him a cheeky stare.

"Chelsea.." Tatsumi sighed.

"Yes, Tatsumi?" she said, blinking slowly.

"I.."

"Two favors this time."

"I prefer the kinky whip. At least it might be a little fun."

"You're not being very fun."

"You're not being very nice."

"Since when am I ever nice?"

"Good point. Now would you please pay for the coffee already? I don't like the look Bertha's giving me."

"Oh, that's just one of her 'I'll kidnap you and bring you to my basement so you can be my boy toy for the rest of your miserable life' look."

"Can we leave now? I actually have better things to do than sitting here."

"Like what? Making out with Sayo?"

"Like getting the equipment I need for the next few months."

"That can wait."

"Here's your coffee." Bertha said, serving them sullenly. She 'accidentally' stepped on Tatsumi's left foot for good measure. He grimaced at the sudden, but wholly expected, pain.

Chelsea paid for hers and winked at Tatsumi. Bertha saw the insufficient amount of money and glared at Tatsumi. He sent Chelsea a pleading look.

"I'll be nice after all." Chelsea sighed, adding enough imperials to cover them both.

"It's your fault for dragging me so quickly I couldn't even put my vest on."

"Keep it that way. You look better without it."

Tatsumi blushed a faint red, which did not go unnoticed by the headset wearing girl. She smiled at his embarassment.

"Look, I brought you here to talk about a couple of things you need to know before you get in."

"Okay?" Tatsumi said, unsure of what she meant.

"The academy doesn't treat country folk very well." She started, slowly sipping on her expresso. "You probably won't find too many friends, and you're awkward enough to begin with."

"Hey!" Tatsumi protested.

"Just stating out the facts, here." Chelsea said, leaning forward across the table. "Most people in the upper rings, where most students in the Academy came from, would rather see you fail than succeed. They think anyone who lived outside the capital are uncouth barbarians stealing jobs and ruining the local economy."

"That's just ridiculous." Tatsumi scoffed.

"That's the way it is." Chelsea said, unwrapping a fresh lollipop from inside her vest.

"How bad could it be?" Tatsumi said positively. "A few pranks here and there, no harm done, right?"

Chelsea shook her head at the boy's naivete. "More like ambush you outside campus grounds, beat you up in the showers and stuff you in a cannon barrel for a fortnight."

"By the gods. They'd really do that?"

"That and far worse."

"If they think they can rob me blind so easily, they'll be in for a surprise." Tatsumi said, grinning.

"I'm not doubting your skills." Chelsea elaborated. "Look, I'm sure you'll be fine, but there's one thing you need to learn. If you want your manhood intact," Tatsumi snorted at the carefree remark on his genitalia, "you will do your best not to piss off Esdeath Frauss."

"Who is she?" Tatsumi asked curiously.

"We come from different divisions, but everyone in the Academy knows exactly who she is." Chelsea said, her voice grim. "She's the first person from her tribe to attend the Academy and the only graduate who passed in under two years."

"TWO YEARS?!" Tatsumi exclaimed.

"She's currently a drill officer under Combatmaster Budou. He's also someone you should refrain from pissing off, but if you ever have to choose between the two of them, go for Budou. Trust me, she's worse. Last year a woman from my division made an offhand remark about Esdeath's uniform, and she overheard it. It was never confirmed, but some say that Esdeath kidnapped her and brought her to the torture room. They found her in a back alley in the red light district two days later. She never spoke a single word afterwards."

Chelsea paused.

"She was my teacher."

Tatsumi didn't speak. He has no idea what to say.

"The reason I'm telling you this is so you'd know to keep your messy head down when you get there." Chelsea said, trying to lighten up the mood. "Gods know you're gonna get in trouble."

"Have a little faith." Tatsumi chuckled.

Chelsea suddenly leaned the distance between their table and grabbed Tatsumi by the scruff of his neck. Her eyes were different than usual – it held a steely anger uncharacteristic of her usual teasing mood.

"_I'm serious_. Don't do anything rash. They already hate you to begin with and pissing off the wrong people is going to get you expelled."

"Okay, okay.. calm down. Geez." Tatsumi said, unsure of how to deal with her sudden explosion.

With that, she sat back down and returned to giving her lollipop a slow, emaciating death.

"Sorry." She muttered, offering him a grim, apologetic smile. "Don't know what got to me."

"Hey, it's fine." Tatsumi said cheerfully. "I appreciate you taking the time to tell me."

"Sure."

There was a small pause.

"Let's go do some actual shopping." Tatsumi suggested.

"That's probably a good idea." Chelsea agreed.

They got up and left the cafe far more somber than when they first arrived. Tatsumi didn't even bother paying attention to Bertha's glares anymore. He found someone far worse to fear than the deviant demoness. Taking to the crowded streets, Chelsea grabbed Tatsumi's hand and led him through the river of people. He glanced at her and saw her cheeks were slightly flushed, but her eyes looked straight ahead and he decided he doesn't mind.

"By the way, I think you'd look better too." Tatsumi said out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Chelsea said, confused.

"Without your vest, I mean." He added.

Chelsea broke into a pleasant smile.

"But where else can I keep my sweets?" she said, running a hand down her waist and thigh seductively. "Down here?"

"How about your hollow skull? I hear there's plenty of space there."

Chelsea stopped, surprised at the competency of his verbal reprisal.

"Wow. You're getting pretty good at this." She complimented him, unfazed by her defeat.

"I think you're bad influence for me." Tatsumi said.

"Just keep it down when you get to the Academy." Chelsea said, her voice shifting back to a more serious tone.

"I promise." Tatsumi said. On that note, he took a note from his pocket and started to read. "Now, where exactly can we find.. Demon Tuna sword oil?"

* * *

Tatsumi enjoyed reminiscing about the fun they had travelling all over the districts together, but the gravity of her words during their talk in the coffee shop still haunted him. There was much to learn about the people of the capital, their hierarchies and how to get along with them. Chelsea explained the concept of the city's 'rings', or sections, and how he can use the knowledge to his benefit.

The Academy is divided into thirty two divisions. Ranging from a plethora of scientific branches, engineering classes, military classes and fine art specialists, each division owns a section of academy grounds. The size of a division's area depends on the amount of students attending said division and how much space and resources they would need. For example, the engineering division is graced with five times more land and resources than the design division. It all comes down to influence and necessity.

Few students came from the country. Those who did must go through the rigorous examinations conducted in regional exams, which Tatsumi managed to ace after killing himself with drills and studies for two months straight. He was glad for it, though, as being a member of the Elite Core branch in the military division guarantees a fast track to a decent rank in the military after graduation. Out of him, Sayo and Ieyasu, Tatsumi has the best chance of earning the most money, which he occasionally teased Ieyasu about. His best friend will go to a separate dorm in the auxiliary branch of their division, where most countrysiders go to. Actually, now that he thought about it, he hasn't seen another person from the countryside in his branch.. he can only hope to find one later.

His train of thought ceased as he saw the humongous spires and magnificent buildings before him. Tatsumi realized that they have arrived.

_Wow._

"Here we are." Chelsea said. She glanced to her three countryside companions and laughed at how astonished they were at the sight looming before them. Other students, obviously freshmen as well, are also staring at the sight.

The Imperial Academy, in all its glory, towered high and spread in all directions for as far as the eye can see. The latest headcount tallied the size of the student body to be around a hundred and ten thousand, separated to thirty two divisions across four hundred and sixteen different courses and special classes. The Academy truly is the seat of intellectual power in the entire Empire. Every officer in the army, merchant expert, economic analyst, royal guard, fashion designer, prestigious architect, well-known author, competent scientist and the like originated from this Academy alone. It's practically a small city in its own right, as its size was necessary to accomodate the sheer number of people attending. An average of fifteen thousand people would gain entrance every year.. but only a sixth of them would even graduate the first year.

"It's huge!" Ieyasu said, mouth agape. "Man, this has got to be bigger than our provincial capital!"

"You can say that again." Tatsumi agreed. "I think I might get lost in here."

"As much as I'd like to, I can't help you with that." Chelsea warned. "We'll only be together for the welcoming ceremony, and then you're on your own."

"Don't worry, we'll be fine!" Ieyasu said optimistically.

"I'm sure you will. It's been awhile since you got lost in the village market, after all." Sayo said sarcastically.

"Hey! That was one time! And I was eight!"

Ieyasu pouted and sulked, a little miffed that his best friend wasn't backing him up. Then again, his opponent is Tatsumi's other best friend.

Who, at the moment, isn't looking too happy, glaring at Chelsea and Tatsumi from behind.

"I'm actually kind of impressed he managed to get lost between six old buildings." Tatsumi said as an afterthought.

"Well, I'm sure you won't have a problem getting around from here." Chelsea said, uncharacteristically positive. She pointed to a giant structure close by, where streams of first year students are heading in. "The stadium's right there but since I'm on my second semester, I won't be joining you."

"Thanks." Tatsumi said brightly, and then he became more serious. "I really am grateful that you took the time to help me these past few days. I wouldn't be this ready without your help."

"No, you wouldn't have." Chelsea agreed cheekily. Tatsumi merely rolled his eyes.

"Can you guys just stop with the flirting already? We have to go now." Sayo said impatiently.

Tatsumi frowned and Chelsea shot her a mean look. Sayo's been in a bad mood these past few days but now she's just pushing it. He turned to face his friend to reprimand her.

"I don't get why you're so worked up over this." Tatsumi said, confronting her head on. "She's kind of annoying sometimes but she did help me afterwards."

"Yeah, _help you." _Sayo said bitterly. "Next you'll be hitting it off at the bar, right?"

"What!? Where'd that come from?"

"Yeah, peasant princess, what's the big deal?" Chelsea mocked. "Afraid I'll take away your boy toy?"

Sayo flushed.

"Huh?" Tatsumi said, confused.

"You-_ Argh_!" she said, stomping off.

"Sayo! Wait!" Tatsumi shouted, but to no avail. The black haired girl was already going off on her own to the Academy Stadium where the welcome ceremony was being hosted. Tatsumi tried to chase after her

"Lucky her." Chelsea said sadly, spitting out a lollipop stick at a nearby trash can. It clanged inside, marking the can empty, and she walked away, heading to her design division. She glanced at the stadium one more time.

_Good luck._

* * *

This place is so freakin' crowded.

Fifteen thousand freshmen, not counting teacher, staff and the janitorial teams, are packed together in a relatively small stadium meant to host ten thousand. That meant sharing space, and since there wasn't much to begin with they ended up in a chokingly thick crowd under the stifling heat of the Imperial Summer.

So.. hot.

So.. brutal.

The podium where the principal was about to make his speech had four air conditioning machines working overtime to cool off the surrounding area. He can just make out the pleasant faces people at the front rows were expressing. It was just his luck that he got placed in the middle of this madness. At least he's got Ieyasu with him. Well.. in spirit. If he focused really hard he might make out his best friend's headband among the sea of auxiliary soldiers further back in the stadium.

There was a tap on the microphone, and the clamoring stopped. Everyone turned their eyes to the figure rising to the stage – the principle and leader of the entire Academy.

Headmaster Onest.

He was.. well, fat. Tatsumi can't really find another way to describe him, nor an euphimism that could still accurately describe his condition. He was wearing a fancy beastskin cloak even in this infernal heat, but the air conditioning seemed to be doing its job as he was barely sweating at all. He has an avuncular beard, but it looked rough, unkempt and.. _are those bacon bits?_ Tatsumi shook his head. Regardless, the headmaster took out an expensive looking napkin from his sleeves and started dabbing away at the sweat beads forming on his forehead.

"Good morning to you all! I am Headmaster Onest, and I am the Headmaster of this academy! I'd like to be the first to welcome you all to this educational establishment, where we dedicate ourselves to train the finest minds and talents our glorious Empire has to offer!"

As the Headmaster continued to drone on about the Academy's founding and various awards, inventions and victories it has contributed to in the past thousand years of its existence, Tatsumi thought about the overweight man. He is, after all, heading the entirety of the Academy, and therefore someone he should take note of. It was one of the many advice the village Elder had imparted to him, and Tatsumi intends to use it well.

_He's pretty good at talking, but I suppose that should be expected. He's been Headmaster for a little more than two decades, after all._ Tatsumi analyzed, remembering what he knew about the mysterious man._ He has charisma, but there's something off about the bearded man. Still, Chelsea didn't mention anything about him, so I guess he's fine._

"We have a long running history of honor and prestige in this academy, so it is expected for you fine students to uphold it!" Onest continued. He then assumed a somber mask. "However, I must delve down a more serious path by reminding you that the instructors' words are law in this institution. This is not grade school. To go against your superiors can be counted as an act of insubordination.. and will be treated as such."

Some of the students nodded somberly, while others looked around nervously. Some must have not expected such strict discipline to be applied to all divisions, not just the military.

"But to be _honest_, I think you will all do marvelously!" Onest joked, breaking the ice and earning some chuckles from the audience. He then stood straighter and raised his fat arms in a welcoming gesture. "And so, I officially welcome you all into our the Imperial Academy of Arts, Science and War! May you all blossom into productive young men and women I believe you can be!"

The response was overwhelming. Freshmen all over the stadium applauded and cheered, with a few pockets of students whistling here and there. Tatsumi can't help but let the excitement get to him as well. He smiled like an idiot and laughed when he saw Ieyasu's overenthusiastic jumping, which broke his seat. A teacher drew close and bonked his buddy in the head before he can cause anymore damage. He slumped on the remains of his chair, out cold, surrounded by laughing freshmen as well.

To be _honest_ (can't help that one), Tatsumi felt pretty pumped as well. The Headmaster was, if anything, encouraging. The reminder of the sort of discipline they as students are expected to comply to was slightly darker than the rest of the speech, but this _is _the Imperial Academy after all. Only the best of the best can thrive, and Tatsumi had promised the Elder and the rest of the village that he will strive to be among the top in his class.

And he has never, ever broken a promise.

_Chelsea will probably change that soon enough, though, _Tatsumi thought humorously, thoughts of the lollipop girl invading his mind with fond memories.

_I wonder how she's doing?_

Unknown to him, a pair of eyes were watching him, a lone student among a sea of freshmen leaving the cramped stadium in droves. They were icy blue, and they belonged to a woman with a heart icier still. She wore the uniform that signified her rank in the academic hierarchy – a drill officer. It was odd enough that a twenty three year old had succeeded in achieving such a high rank after two years in the military, but the fact that said person was a woman was nigh unheard of.

The cold-hearted prodigy. Lone wolf of the plains. Awarded the title of Swordsmaster less than a year after arriving, and the most notorious officer in the entire Academy. Older students took a wide berth around her, while younger ones whispered about the rumors they have heard about the infamous drill officer.

Esdeath Frauss.

_So that is the boy._ She thought, taking note of Tatsumi's optimistic stride and bright, green eyes. _The one who managed to score high enough in the regional exams to enter her class. There had never been an instance where someone not of the capital had joined the elite division of the academic military. He would be the first, and therefore, someone she should monitor carefully._

She continued to keep track of him until his youthful form disappeared beyond the gates of the academy stadium. Though the crowds had thinned by this point, Esdeath remained rooted in her spot, contemplating the unique boy. If the report is true, then he has no idea how special he was for succeeding where thousands of others have tried.. and failed.

_He doesn't look very strong,_Esdeath thought. _But musculature is not a defining trait for a soldier. If anything, he's cute. _Esdeath conceded. _But countryside vermin are vermin still. Perhaps I should make sure he fails.. no, I'd rather see what he does. That would be more.. interesting._

Her luscious lips twisted to form a feral grin.

_You have my eyes, Tatsumi Rinzen. _Esdeath concluded, moving to leave. People parted before her like water, and she basked in their fear.

_Let's see how you do._

* * *

"Agh. Dammit." Ieyasu swore.

There's no use denying his situation.

He's lost.

Sayo was right.

He was initially optimistic enough in the crowd of optimistic first years, but discovered that the group of people he was with belonged to the culinary division. He should have guessed that by the sheer fact that half of those people were overweight.

Ieyasu had a plan, of course. Merge with the group of obese guys and girls around him are bound to notice his admirable muscles and handsome face. To be fair, he did get flocked by girls. Fat ones. That.. sounded wrong now that he thought about it. He has nothing against the obese, but he was aiming for a different kind of women.

Hot ones.

It was then that he saw a beautiful girl with an innocent look walking a cute little dog along the campus grounds. She was wearing a military division uniform and an officer insignia identified her as someone who knows where to go, and most importantly, how to get there.

_Finally! Someone I can ask directions with! _He thought triumphantly. _Pretty sweet eye candy, too._

"Hey! How ya doin'?" Ieyasu greeted her. "Are you lost, too?"

"I am not lost!" the girl flared happily. "I am merely walking Coro around the compound before we are tasked to begin afternoon drills."

"Oh, okay. I am." Ieyasu freely admitted. "The name's Ieyasu, and I'm new in the military division. Mind showing me where to go?"

"Rejoice!" the girl said, extending a hand. Ieyasu took it, but winced when he felt his hand crushed under the tremendous power of a handshake. "Another warrior of justice has joined our ranks! My name is Seryu, and this is my dog Coro! As you are new in this area, I will gladly show you the way to auxiliary dormitories."

"Hey, I didn't tell you I was from the auxiliaries! Who knows if I was part of the elite core?" Ieyasu said sourly.

"Is it not obvious?" No warrior from the elite branch would ever be so incompetent as to get lost in their first day."

Ouch. That hurt.

"..Fine." Ieyasu admitted. "Let's go."

Her dog doesn't look very happy with his company, though. The tiny puppy growled at him, showing surprisingly sharp, but still tiny, teeth. It strained against its leash and began to bark.

"Coro doesn't seem to like you very much." Seryu said, frowning. "I don't understand why. Are you not a fellow warrior under the law?"

"Ah, look at him! He's a cute little bundle of fur, what can he possi..bly.."

At the mention of the word 'cute', Coro's fur turned red like a chameleon's and he seemed to grow twice in size.

"Coro doesn't like being called cute by anyone except me." Seryu said. "It's probably a yearly thing. Coro's a Deathbreed, after all."

"Huh?" Ieyasu said, tilting his head in confusion.

"He's also danger beast." Seryu deadpanned. The ropelines forming the leash started to snap one by one.

"You might want to run." Seryu helpfully added.

Ieyasu's eyes bulged.

The leash snapped and he found himself running for his life.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID THAT FIRST!"

Even though he's obviously an idiot, Seryu found the young man's antics endearing. Look at him go! He's pretty fast, but Coro will probably catch up right about.. Seryu winced. She might have to teach him not to maul first years. That won't make a good impression for officer Frauss.

_Oh well_, she shrugged noncommittally. _I'm sure it's good exercise for you, Ieyasu!_

She giggled at his disappearing form, turning past a dormitory building like the devil is on his tail. And there is. A devil on his tail.

_With fit guys like him, justice will always prevail! _Seryu thought cheerfully.

She smiled and strutted off for her afternoon drills.


	3. Unexpected Friends

**Unexpected Friends**

* * *

"I'm home!" Leone declared happily.

"You know, it's kind of sad if you consider a run-down, scam-dealing pawn shop as 'home'."

"Hey! You live here too!" Leone pouted.

"Yeah, but I don't call this place 'home'. I prefer.. say, 'temporary housing'."

"Sounds like home to me." Leone smirked.

"Considering we didn't have anything resembling one before, I don't really mind these arrangements." Najenda said, looking up from her office desk in adjacent room. The Boss has her own room because of her habit of smoking. As a consequence, Lubbock was forced to share a room with the ever exuberant Leone. That alone is the single most common complaint Lubbock keeps annoying her with, but Najenda was wise enough to understand his situation.

Living with someone who would strip without warning and punch you so hard your head gets stuck to the ceiling for looking is rather.. demanding.

Najenda left the two of them bickering like an old married couple and entered the door to her office. Upon closing it, all noise from the outside world faded away.

She surveyed the interior of their pawnshop, Night, with faint pride. Despite its roughshod appearance, it has served them well in the past two years. The paint is crumbling, but the bricks are sturdy. The welcome sign is slanted, but at least it's hanging. There are cracks in the interior wall, but they hid it behind bookshelves. That actually created a whole new part of the shop – the Tomes section.

Anything and everything to save money.

And now, their efforts are finally paying off. Their combined efforts had silently accrued two million imperials over the past twenty six months. They also managed to live thirty two days without scamming anybody. Leone and Lubbock's dedication to an honest lifestyle surprised her. She thought they'd steal the occassional wallet or scam some harebrained upper ring idiot a few times, but close inspection on their belongings and routine revealed that that is not the case. It pleased her to know that despite her companions' quirks and less-than-desirable habits, they are willing to do what's right. After what both of them has been through in the Capital slums, anyone would consider their transformation nothing short of miraculous.

Najenda leaned against her chair contentedly, eyes closed to relish the homy atmosphere. They've sold off most of the relics and tomes they had gathered over the years, but the familiar scent they left behind still remains.

_They're finally done with this place._

She'll miss it though, she thought. She pulled one of her desk drawers open and lifted off a false bottom to reveal a framed picture.

It was all three of them the night they met. Leone had her arms around her, forming silly peace signs, while Lubbock stood a good distance away, disgruntled by the fact that Najenda ruined his loot that night.

Najenda, who had taken the bad habit of drinking and smoking ever since she was dishonorably discharged from the army, had been good drinking buddies with Leone for a few months. She bought the busty blonde drinks as long as the brawler would return the favor by sending her the fancy tobaccos she occassionally looted from her bar fight victims. Najenda saw a green haired guy try to flirt with Leone. She asked him to buy her a drink. He did, and introduced himself is Lubbock. After several bottles of alcohol, Leone told him to get lost.

He looked stricken, but eventually left... but not before Najenda saw his hands move like lightning and tear a neat hole in Leone's pocket, stealing her wallet. He whistled as he left the bar, and Najenda followed him. She admired his cunning – getting Leone drunk to lower her guard enough so he could steal her wallet was a stroke of genius. She found him in the backalley of a market, counting his lot. She confronted him about it. Despite her antics, Najenda considered Leone a friend. Lubbock did not hand over the wallet willingly. She used her longsword to give him a thorough explanation why it is stupid to go against an (former) Imperial officer, alone, in the back of an alley, until he finally relented.

She invited the beat up thief to join her for a drink back at the bar. Wallet in hand, she dropped in on the ground near a wasted Leone, who was barely even conscious enough to register the fact that her stolen wallet has been returned. The amused bartender photographed the ridiculous trio with an aging camera. He handed the photo to Najenda the next day, and she's kept it ever since.

Najenda, the disgraced soldier abandoned by the army for an act of insubordination that saved her entire battalion. Leone, the sassy drunken brawler who frequented bars and borrows money without giving it back. Lubbock, a cunning scammer and thief with silver fingers that can unravel any wallet in a split second.

A ridiculous trio.

She took out the picture and slipped it inside her backpack. They'll be leaving tomorrow. She stood up and slung the backpack over her shoulders. She opened the soundproofed door and was greeted by a heating argument between Lubbock and Leone about who gets to carry the moneybox later.

"None of you." Najenda interjected.

"Eh? But don't you trust me, Boss?" Leone said, faking a pout, batting her eyes rapidly.

"Not as far as I can throw you." Najenda said, but then reconsidered. "Actually, I'm pretty sure I can throw you pretty far, so no."

"Aw." Leone said, deflating. She perked up again when the pizza delivery guy appeared in front of the store door.

"Got it!" she said, streaking across the room like a yellow bullet.

"You're not getting everything this time!" Lubbock said, chasing after her to secure his part of the meal. Najenda merely chuckled.

She looked back inside her office one more time before locking it.

There's a lot of work to do.

* * *

The ring of the final bell was the most beautiful thing Tatsumi had ever heard.

The thirty or so students who composed Class Eight of the Academy's Elite Corps Division sighed in harmony at the sign of their release from the hellish classroom of Military History 101. The instructor, a strict old man by the name of Gounin, is the most boring person Tatsumi had ever met. He would drone on and on about the various military victories the Empire had achieved over the years.

_Victories are fine, I guess._Tatsumi thought, _but aren't there things to learn from losses, too?_

He never voiced his opinion on the old man's lecturing skills, of course. He'd like to keep his head where it is, thank you very much. The last time a student yawned out of sheer boredom she was literally booted out of the class and was forced to do a ten sets of thirty push ups and pullups before sundown. The girl barely managed, but had to go to the infirmary for overstraining herself. The incident, only one among many, served only to degrade his opinion regarding the academy's teaching methods. Although..

_I guess this place isn't called the Elite Corps for being nice._

He left the class and headed to the main hallways, where the one thousand strong student body who make up the Elite Corps migrated to their next classes like cattle.

"Next up.. next up.." Tatsumi mumbled to himself, holding up a piece of paper listing the courses he is required to take. "Koukenji. Huh." He passed by various classes – Danger Beast Anatomy 102, Explosive Studies 105, Assassination Tactics 203..

There it is. A sign hung above the double doors – "Koukenji Martial Arts 205".

"Alright. Gotta find the instructo- Agh!"

"Watch it, country dog." A heavily built man with a cocky expression on his face.

"Sorry." Tatsumi said, not really sorry. "Didn't see you there."

"I don't like your tone, kid." The upperclassman said, cracking his digits. "You wanna go a round?"

Tatsumi considered the challenge. He was more than sure that he could take him on, but he promised Chelsea he'd stay out of trouble.

"It's my bad. Sorry." he apologized again.

"He's not worth bothering, Daidara." A tiny boy.. girl..? said, appearing from behind his.. her? companion's body.

"But Nyau!" Daidara complained.

"Do you really want to get detention over some worthless country hick?" Nyau reasoned, albeit condescendingly. Tatsumi gritted his teeth at the insult, but remained silent, remembering his promise to Chelsea that he'd avoid trouble as much as possible.

"Hmph." Daidara said. He eyed Tatsumi with disdain. "I got my eye on you, kid." He said, emphasizing his point with a swift jab at Tatsumi's shoulder before leaving the green eyed boy with a mocking snort.

Tatsumi stared at them hatefully. Out of everything he's learned these past few weeks in the capital, it was that the elitists of the upper ring hated people from the countryside.

He sighed. Getting worked up over a couple of jerks is just going to ruin his day further. He took a deep breath and entered his next class – Koukenji 205 with Instructor

Whatever struggles he had, they all faded away when he remembered why he was here. The happy faces of his fellow villagers, the Elder's proud smile as the three of them said their goodbyes, promising to save their town from destitution. They all believe in him, helped him become who he was. Who is he to let them down?

He smiled inwardly and entered his class with renewed resolve.

The whistle blew once more, marking the end of the exercise. Ieyasu collapsed on the ground breathlessly. Many others followed in suit, coughing and shaking from the physical strain they were subjected to. A hundred and twenty push ups are nothing to laugh at.

"Again!" the class instructor, Ogre, barked. "Two more sets of twenty!"

"Come on, friends!" the class assistant, Seryu, said. Ieyasu balked at her optimism. She didn't even look the slightest bit tired. She continued to work relentlessly, shaming the male half of the hundred strong members of Academy Auxiliary Squad Seventeen.

Ieyasu was barely able to finish the latest set of strenuous moves. Some of the others didn't make it, either falling unconscious on the ground, or simply dropping where they were, breathing like danger beasts. Those who did not make it through the sets are punished to extra patrols with Officer Ubiquitous, a grueling routine everyone did their best to avoid. Her passion for duty is admirable, but the extent to which she took things were excessive, to say the least. Still, Ieyasu supposed it doesn't hurt to admit that her antics made her.. well, cute.

Unlike Coro.

That dog of hers was the ultimate fear-inducing instrument in the entire godsdamned auxiliary units. Ieyasu was certian it was born in the depths of hell to unleash misery on the surface world. Seryu's idea of detention was dropping whatever idiotic souls were stupid enough to disobey Ogre's orders into the division's gym and letting Coro loose inside for an hour. Needless to say, it was an extremely effective deterrent to bad behaviour.

Ieyasu shuddered, remembering the haunted faces of those who survived the beastly dog's rampage.

"Alright, that's all for today." Ogre said. Everyone immediately collapsed on the ground, with the exception of one energetic Seryu Ubiqitous. "Class dismissed."

The exhausted members of Auxiliary Squad Seventeen filed out of the training grounds in staggered lines. Ieyasu stretched one last time and followed, but stopped when he found a certain orange haired officer stood in front of him.

"Hi!" Seryu said, a little too cheerfully.

"Officer Ubiquitous." Ieyasu said, saluting her. He thanked his lucky stars that he was able to pronounce that ridiculous last name of hers. "Do you uh, need anything?" Ieyasu asked warily.

"Oh, it is nothing! I merely wish to congratulate you on completing the exercises today!"

"Thanks." He said, scratching his head.

"Although.. there _is _something I wanna ask!"

_No way! _Ieyasu thought. _Is she going to ask me out on a.._

"Would you.. like to.."

_YES? YES?_

"Go out with me on patrol this Saturday?"

_Eh?_

* * *

"Stylish Design 104. Huh." Sayo mumbled. When it appeared on the extracurricular option last week, she thought it sounded good. Getting a couple of pointers for the style of her designs wouldn't hurt so bad. It's only three months long, and it gives some extra credit as well. She was surprised to learn that there were only six other applicants to the class that could very well house forty.

She was standing outside a room that looked like a cross between a school classroom and a mad scientist's lab. There were weird instruments everywhere; crystal vials, magical lacrimas, bottles filled with oddly colored liquids. Eccentric articles of clothing lay scattered across the place, ranging from boutique dresses to bomb defusal suits.

"What is this place?" Sayo wondered out loud. She thought that coming early would help give a good first impression to the instructor.

"AH! WELCOME, WELCOME!" a voice echoed throughout the room. Sayo followed it and found its owner hidden under a pile of royal clothing. He was a decent looking man wearing a lab coat and a pair of glasses, which would have been fine with her if it wasn't for the pink sock gloves and kitty pin on his hair. That's.. creepy. "My first student! Ten minutes early, no less! VERY STYLISH OF YOU, Miss..?"

"Sayo." Sayo said. Did she make a mistake coming here?

"Why are you standing out there? Come in, come in!"

He ushered her in.

"Welcome to the most STYLISH class you will ever find!"

"Um, yeah. Where's.. everybody else?"

The instructor frowned.

"I'm afraid three of them has left the class in favor of other pursuits, and the other two are unable to make it today." he explained. "But no matter! It is their loss. Mark my words, Miss Sayo! We will lead our division to a new era of stylish fashion!"

_Crap._

* * *

"I'm home!" Tatsumi declared, completely exhausted by the day's work but happy to be home. It took a few weeks for him to be able to call the aparment home, but it was one of the few places where he could actually lock his room and rest in peace.

He went through the living room and looked around. The kitchen was dormant. The recreation room was empty. The rooms were locked and the rooftop was barren.

"Huh?"

There was nobody home.

There should have been. In the past month he's been living here, there's always at least two or three of the eight inhabitants lounging around the house, especially now that the Academy is over. Tatsumi trudged up the stairs, inspecting the rooms for any signs of life. He at least expected Ieyasu to be lazing in his room, or for Susanoo to be watering and cleaning the building like he always does, but there really is no one

"YAHOOO!" Tatsumi shouted out the window.

_Finally! _A day of silence and relaxa-

There was a knock on the front door.

Great. He had to jinx it.

A guest? Tatsumi thought. Everyone usually barges in unannounced, so the fact that someone knocked on the door means that they are strangers.

He ran down the stairs, feet thumping.

There's a couple of unused rooms on the third floor. New arrivals, maybe? Susanoo mentioned something

Tatsumi opened the door to see three cloaked figures. The one who knocked was a buff woman with short silver hair, followed with a green haired guy picking his fingernails clean and a voluptuous blonde yawning and stretching like a cat.

"Landlord Susanoo? I'm here to talk about the offer you.." a familiar silver haired woman trailed off.

They stared at each other and froze.

"IT'S THE CUTIE!" Leone exclaimed happily.

"YOU!" Tatsumi shouted at the green haired scammer.

"YOU?" Lubbock's expression shifted from surprise, confusion and realization in the space of a second. Two batons and a blade appeared on hand a split-second later.

"YOU TRIED TO ROB ME!" Tatsumi shouted.

"YOU LIVE HERE?!" Lubbock said, jaws agape.

"BOYS! STOP THIS AT ONCE!" Najenda ordered. The aura of authority she gained from her years in the army immediately sent both cowering. She took a step forward to separate them. Tatsumi retreated behind the door, opening it just wide enough to have a conversation.

"Wh-What do you want?" Tatsumi said, not entirely intimidated.

"There was an advertisement on the properties market." Najenda said. "I contacted the owner of this building and made a deal. We're coming to finalize the agreements. We.."

The full weight of the implications sent Tatsumi reeling.

".. are your new neighbors."

_No. Way._

"GIVE YOUR NEW BIG SISTER A HUG!" Leone said, lunging on Tatsumi. He shrieked a muffled scream as the bombastic woman shoved the younger man into her bountiful chest. She ruffled his hair playfully and placed her chin on his possessively.

"Hey, you never did that with me!" Lubbock said, envious of the physical treatment.

"That's cause you're a first class pervert, Lubba!" Leone said.

"Aw, he fainted." Leone muttered. Indeed, the very thought of having them as roommates send the brown haired boy falling. He is now ensconced comfortably in Leone's caring arms. A little too comfortably.

Najenda sighed.

"Definitely didn't see that coming." Lubbock mused. "I would've thought you'd know who lives here before buying-"

"Shut up."

* * *

"How's it going, princess?" Chelsea greeted.

The day is finally over. Both girls just left their classes, and are now part of the swelling river of students flooding the hallway. The fashion design division is relatively small compared to most of the others in the Academy, but ever since the creation of the design wing two hundred years ago, its student population steadily grew into a respectable size.

"I wanna kill myself." Sayo groaned, too tired to even counter the condescending nickname she was given.

"I can actually help you with that." Chelsea replied, a razor sharp needle suddenly appearing in her hand.

Sayo shrieked and scrambled backwards, turning more than a few curious heads in her direction. Chelsea sighed and the needle disappeared into the mysterious confines of her sleeves.

"You know I was just kidding right?" she said.

"Could've fooled me!" Sayo shouted.

"Oh, that's right, you're pretty easy to fool." Chelsea said nonchalantly. Sayo turned red and exploded into a loud, long lecture about common etiquette and boundaries, to which Chelsea responded by tuning her out with her headset. By the time Sayo realized the lollipop-eating girl had tuned her out, everyone in the hallway was looking at her with annoyed looks

"I don't know her." Chelsea said, walking away from the mortified girl.

"S-Sorry everyone!" Sayo said, trying to salvage what remains of her dignity.

"_Definitely a country girl."_ A handsome guy muttered, moving away in disgust.

"_Cute though, right?"_ A dude with an acne-cratered face said creepily.

"_Don't even think about it buddy, you just saw her."_ His obese companion said, pushing up his glasses. _"She's got a loose screw somewhere."_

"_Are all country people like this?"_ A young girl wondered out loud.

Sayo quivered under the amount of negative intention directed at her as a result of her tirade. She buried her face in her hands in shame.

The flow of the hallway resumed once more and Sayo raised her head. No

She sighed. That's a relief.

She saw Chelsea turn over a corner, pausing just long enough to leave a wink before disappearing to the next hallway.

"YOU! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Sayo yelled, chasing after her mortal enemy.

* * *

"Ah... this is the life!" Bulat said, leaning back.

"Bulat, why are you in the ladies' bath?" Kurome complained.

"I'm gay, remember?" Bulat reminded her.

They had rented two rooms in a nearby hot spring bath, one of the few in the capital. It was a rare opportunity as the bath is usually always full, but Bulat's idea of taking a break when most people are working had managed to snatch them a couple of free spots. Kurome, Akame and Bulat is currently chilling in a jacuzzi. The girls are wrapped in towels, but they were thin and did nothing to hide their figures. Bulat caught Kurome stealing envious glances at her big sister's chest.

"You are a fine male specimen, but I think you should join Susanoo in the men's bath." Akame said, blushing from the heat and the fact that there is a handsome, well built man sitting right next to her. He's also completely naked, opting to ignore the towel option and baring his body for all the world to see – if the world is composed of two teenage girls, that is.

"Look, he's good looking and all, but.." Bulat shivered. "The last time we had a communal bath together he tried to scrub my back with a cheese shredder and wax my chest hair."

"Sounds like Susan." Kurome said, apparently unperturbed by Bulat's presence in the bath. The same can't be said for her sister, however, who was sinking down to her eyes. Yeah, the social awkwardness is definitely showing.

"Hey, what do you guys think of the newcomers?" Bulat said, trying to change to a more comfortable topic.

Akame rose from the water just enough so she could speak.

"Tatsumi proved to be a diligent warrior and a good cook. I approve." she said in her trademark monotone voice. "He doesn't seem to like me very much, though. Every time we had to cook together he would flinch for no reason.."

"See, Akame, this is why you should refrain from stabbing people the first time you see them." Bulat lectured. "They tend to get scared of you afterwards."

"Bulat, you tried to feel him up the first time, too." Kurome pointed out.

"Well.. he's cute." Bulat said unabashedly.

"Not cute enough to get away from breaking away my cookies." Kurome said, her hand rising out of the water with a knife.

"HEY! WHERE DID YOU GET THAT!? NO- WHERE DID YOU HIDE THAT?" Bulat exclaimed.

"I baked you a new jar the day after." Akame pointed out.

"It's not about the cookies." Kurome said, steely eyes shining with determination. "It's about _the cookies_."

"You just said the same thing." Bulat sighed.

"Here's the plan." Kurome said, ignoring him. "I'll make him wish he never touched my cookie, ever again."

_It's time._

* * *

Sayo stopped before the gates of hell. Terror gripped her heart, but she would not back down from this. The battle will serve to improve further ventures for future conflicts, and she was too stubborn to admit that this was a mistake after all. She will face the demon within.. an aberration of darkness, an abominable soul that lost its way after delving into the depths of the abyss for far too long.

Breathing in deep, she opened the door.

"Welcome!" the off-pitch voice of a certain instructor greeted her. With a sigh, Sayo returned his greetings with a wave of her hand.

Dr. Stylish frowned. "What's with the sad look? We'll get rid of it in no time! Look, my dearest student-" Sayo cringed. "-at this glorious, most stylish masterpiece!"

She followed where his finger was pointing to one of the laboratory's tables.

It was empty.

"I don't see anything."

"EXACTLY!" Dr. Stylish exclaimed in excitement. "ISN'T IT WONDERFUL?"

"What is?" Sayo asked, but he was already ignoring her. He started to strip.

Sayo backed away and considered yelling for help, but Stylish reassured her with a wave of his hand.

"I must apologize!" Stylish said, ceasing all stripping activities. Thankfully, he still has his boxers on. His pink, strawberry dotted, painfully tight boxers.

_YEAH! YOU REALLY SHOULD!_ Sayo screamed in her head.

"To be denied the full sight of my stylish body.. I am a sadistic man indeed." Stylish said, bowing apologetically at her direction. "Perhaps we will save it for another time."

Sayo stared on wordlessly.

_That's it._ She's giving up. This guy's been a complete waste of time.

"I'm leaving." she said, turning and heading back towards the door.

"NO!" Stylish said, suddenly appearing in front of the door. She smelled disgustingly strong cologne and gagged.

"I DON'T FIND THIS CLASS STYLISH AT ALL!" Sayo blew her lid. "HOW DID YOU EVEN GET IN THIS ACADEMY! YOU'RE JUST AN SELFB-ABSORBED OLD PERVERT!"

"I ASSURE YOU, I MEANT NO OFFENSE!" Stylish said. "Please, give me a chance.." he said sadly, arms hanging limp by his sides. ".. all my other students have always left immediately. You are the first who stayed.."

He looked up to her with a puppy face. How a man as old and eccentric as he managed to pull it off, she'll never find out.

_I am sooo going to regret this._

".. Fine." Sayo conceded, sighing in the process.

"MARVELOUS!" Stylish shouted, all traces of disappointment gone in an instant. "PLEASE! This way!"

Sayo reluctant allowed Dr. Stylish to usher her deeper into his mad scientist's fashion lair. She tried her hardest to ignore the fact that he is virtually nude, and that there's a ridiculously long piece of hair growing on a ridiculous large mole growing on the tip of his ridiculously wide left nipple.

"Ta-da!" Stylish said, presenting the empty lab table once more.

"Okay." Sayo said. "I don't see how this is stylish at all."

"One moment." Stylish said, grabbing the thin air above the table. "See? I'm a GENIUS!"

"Look, I'm sure that you're very.. special.." Sayo said, trying to find the proper euphemisms to relay her growing skepticism of his overall competence.. or sanity, for that matter. "But I think I'm going to go now."

"Not just yet." Stylish said, grinning. He made a tossing motion towards the black haired girl and snapped his fingers.

"What are you-WHOA!" Sayo shouted.

She felt the weight of a surprisingly silky fabric draped over her shoulder. She grabbed the area where there should be cloth.. but she could see nothing but thin air. Yet there is definitely something there - she ran her fingers over the invisible cloth with admiration.

"What.. is this?" Sayo said, in awe of the material she was holding.

"It's an experimental fabric I like to call Stylinvisifabric!" Dr. Stylish declared proudly. Sayo cringed at the name, but there was no denying his genius. She's got to admit it - invisible fabric is pretty damned cool.

He took the fabric from her hands and draped it over his body. He felt around his wrist area and started pressing into the air around his left arm. Suddenly, a white labcoat materialized over his body. A control panel could be seen on his left wrist.

_Thank heavens._ _He's covered himself. _Sayo thought. _I sound like a parent whose child just took another step to maturity._

"It can change colors!" Dr. Stylish explained. "The material is quite heavy, but it's worth the tradeoff of having EVERY. SINGLE. SHADE. IN. A. RAIN. BOW." With every word, he emphasized his point by changing the color of his coat to red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

_Rainbow's supposed to be one word.. _Sayo thought, eyebrows twitching.

"The material is very expensive, of course, but the price should go down once the second and third prototypes are finished. I project possible costs for a single set complete clothing to be about five thousand imperials, but it would definitely sell out simply because it eliminates need for more clothes. Get a new set of color coding and a user can have another dress to her collection. I estimate market prices.."

Sayo listened intently to Dr. Stylish's rant about his invention with rapt attention. She realized how he had managed to become an instructor in the academy - when it comes to actually inventing and proposing inventions and design, he became a passionate and calculating person.

"..and that's how I plan on using Stylinvisifabric to improve the economy of the western tribes! And clothe those barbarians as well, I might add."

_You need it more than they do._

"That's... actually impressive, Dr. Stylish." Sayo complimented him sincerely.

"WITH THIS FABRIC, WE WILL CHANGE THE WORLD!" Dr. Stylish said, throwing the windows of his lair wide open. He raised the multicolored material above his head as if it was his newborn son. A strong gust of wind blew inside and swept away said son outside. Deprived of a user, it returned to its original, transparent state, and disappeared into the outside world.

"What happens when it gets lost?" Sayo said thoughtfully. "Do you have a backup fabric or something?"

"I.. didn't think that far.." Dr. Stylish mourned, dropping to his knees. "My love.. I have lost you.."

_He's definitely got issues.. but.. I guess he IS stylish after all. _Sayo thought, smiling.

"Stop moping." Sayo told the woeful man on the floor. "Let's go find it."

* * *

"You don't look so good, buddy."

"Ugh.." Tatsumi slurred.

Indeed, the brown haired youth isn't looking very well. In fact, judging from his pale complexion and the gray bags under his eyes, his mental state must be as bad as his physical. Ritone, the first in his class who dared to befriend Tatsumi regardless of where he came from, looked at him with both pity and amusement.

"Ritone.. lend me your sword." Tatsumi said.

"Why?" Ritone asked.

"I left mine at the lockers and I wanna kill yourself right now." Tatsumi groaned.

"Dirty your own sword!" Ritone laughed.

"Well, since you won't let me, I guess I'll just have to stick with being alive. What's next?"

"Koukenji test spars. Officer Frauss is in charge." Ritone read off his schedule list.

"Oh no." Tatsumi frowned. "I'll need a miracle to pass that now. I don't think I can even punch the broad side of a building right now."

"I might have the thing for you.." Ritone said, searching around his backpack for something. He perked up and took out a small bottle filled with suspicious looking liquids. "Something I made myself. I like to call it firebeer."

"Doesn't sound very safe.." Tatsumi frowned. He then shrugged. "Ah, what the heck. I don't really have anything to lose anyway."

Tatsumi grabbed the bottle and started chugging.

"Why are you so wasted anyway?" Ritone asked, giving his friend another bottle when he downed the first one.

"A long story." Tatsumi said.

Just recalling what transpired the night before is already giving him a pounding headache...

* * *

"_Everyone, meet our newest roommates!" Susanoo declared._

"_Greetings." a white haired woman said._

"_Sup." a green haired dude said indifferently._

"_HELLOOOO!" a busty blonde waved her hands excitedly._

"_Kill me already." Tatsumi said, slumped on the dining table like a puppet whose strings were cut._

"_That's not very nice of you!" Leone said, bouncing up to him with a pout on her lips. "In fact, that was downright rude! Bad boys must be punished!"_

_She tried to smother the younger boy with her breasts._

"_H-HEY!" Sayo shrieked. "What do you think you're doing!?"_

"_Showing my new little brother here some love!" Leone said cheerfully. Then her tone turned sly. "Or am I interrupting something already here?"_

"_NO!" Sayo screeched, her voice on a whole other octave._

"_I don't understand why you seem to be against the newcomers, Tatsumi." Susanoo frowned. "Have you met each other?"_

"_HAWVE VEE MET EASH OSHER?!" Tatsumi shouted, his voice muffled by a pair of mischievous mammaries. He broke free, gasping for breath. "THEY TRIED TO ROB ME BLIND!"_

"_That's in the past! You should care more about what happens in the future!" Leone said._

"_You have no idea." Tatsumi muttered._

"_Wait a second." Sayo said, eyes narrowing at the green haired guy. "I've seen you before.."_

"_I'm sure it's just a coincidence!" he said, a little too brightly._

"_Rob you? How did that happen?" Susanoo said._

"_Green head scammed Sayo for my sword." Tatsumi explained. "Green head tries to run. Me and Chelsea chases him. Green head and giant boobs stopped us in an alley. Scar chest took me down, but Najenda saved us."_

_For some reason Chelsea remained silent as Tatsumi narrated the story, content on simply sucking on her lollipop. When Tatsumi stared at her expectantly, she shrugged._

"_I don't have anything against them."_

"_THEY TRIED TO ROB US!"_

"_And they failed. No.. more like they could've but she stopped them." Chelsea said, nodding at Najenda's direction. "They gave you your sword back, too, so what else do you want?"_

"_They're still a bunch of thugs and scammers!" Tatsumi pouted, putting his arms across his chest._

"_I give you my word that we have committed no crimes in the past month." Najenda said. "Believe me when I say that we did only what is necessary."_

"_Boss is right." Leone said, becoming more serious. "She wouldn't let me go to bar fights for weeks now. I think my hands are growing soft!" she said mournfully._

"_I have no qualms with these three," Akame added, peeking in from the kitchen. "But I am unsure about the excessively large man."_

"_What man?" Ieyasu asked._

_A masked head poked into the living room, followed by a torso covered both in scars and a white cooking apron._

"_H-Hello. My name is Bols. N-Nice to meet you all.."_

"_YOU!" Tatsumi stood up._

"_Nice chest." Bulat complimented._

_Somehow, someway, Bols managed to blush past his ominous gas mask._

"_T-Thank you.." he stuttered. "As you might have guessed, I'm painfully shy. I won't actually be living here, but since miss Najenda are good friends of mine, I'll be helping in the kitchen, so I hope we can get along!"_

"_Just don't make a mess." Susanoo said, not giving the shy giant any more thought._

"_Then let me teach you how to use the equipment." Akame said, any uncertainty demolished._ _Black hair, red eyes, a scarred chest and the gas mask disappeared back into the kitchen._

"_So.." Ieyasu mumbled. "Now what?"_

"_I still don't like this."_

"_You don't have to like us, Tatsumi." Najenda said. "I understand full well how you feel. All I'm asking is that you tolerate our presence."_

_Tatsumi sighed. "Fine."_

"_However," Susanoo said. "Taking into account your shady history, I must insist on one more agreement."_

"_Name it." Najenda said._

"_If any of us catch you stealing anything, you are to be evicted effective immediately." Susanoo said. "There is no negotiating this rule."_

"_Very well." Najenda agreed immediately._

"_The only thing worth stealing here is cutie over here!" Leone said, coddling Tatsumi. By this point he's given up and and surrendered into the blondie's embrace. Sayo seethed in the corner while Kurome made small chat with Lubbock, who apparently share her love for . Chelsea looked blankly at Leone and Tatsumi before turning her attention to Najenda, whose intelligence had caught her attention. Bulat merely leaned back and enjoyed the show, stealing the occasional glance inside the kitchen to admire the gas masked man's physique. Kurome stared daggers at Tatsumi, munching her cookies silently._

_Is she still mad about the cookies? Tatsumi thought._

"_Our supplementary food for the evening has been thoroughly prepared." Akame announced._

"_E-Everyone!" Bols said shyly. "Dinner is ready!"_

"_Good! I'm starving!" Leone exclaimed happily. "What's on the menu?"_

"_Meat." Tatsumi, Sayo, Ieyasu, Akame, Bulat, Susanoo, Chelsea and Kurome said in eerie unison._

"_O-kay." Lubbock said, a little weirded out._

"_As long as Akame's in charge of the food, we're eating meat." Susanoo explained to the newcomers._

"_Sounds good to me." Najenda smiled._

_Bols and Akame came in with a grand parade of luscious food - roast boar, wagyu beef, a pile of danger fish, eggs cooked in various ways, a keg of beer and a selection of juices as an alternative to the alcohol. Plates began to pile up on the table. _

"_Wow." Tatsumi said, awed at the display of mouth-watering food._

"_Wow is right!" Ieyasu agreed._

_All twelve people seated, they began to dig in._

"_So, Tatsumi, where did you come from?" Leone asked, tearing into the boar like a vicious animal. Sayo looked at the blonde with distaste._

"_A small village down south." Tatsumi said, relieved to finally have normal small-talk. "Ieyasu and Sayo came with me. We're here to get jobs and help our village."_

"_Chelsea told me you're quite the prodigy." Najenda said. "It's the first time I've heard someone from the country attend the Elite Corps branch of the Academy." Tatsumi turned slightly red and looked at Chelsea. She smiled and continued her conversation with Lubbock._

"_Yeah, well.. I guess living in the mountains does that to you." Tatsumi said._

"_So it seems." Najenda said with an unidentifiable tone. "I would be interested in testing out your skills myself."_

"_Why?" Tatsumi asked, curious._

"_Boss was a former officer in the Imperial Army!" Leone added happily._

"_WHAT!?" Tatsumi and Bulat exclaimed._

"_I'd be glad to give you some pointers." Najenda offered._

"_Sure! Yes! Please!" Tatsumi said, excited at the prospect of being taught by a veteran, a former officer nonetheless._

"_First of all.. never let your guard down." Najenda said._

_Is it just him, or is her tone rather sly?_

"_Okay..?" Tatsumi said. Isn't this stuff rather obvious?_

"_Second, the enemy can be found hiding everywhere, even in plain sight." Leone said, wrapping her arms around Tatsumi affectionately. Tatsumi squirmed._

_There's definitely _**something**_ going on here. Tatsumi thought._

"_You know, I was hoping for advice about how to use my sword-" he started_

"_Third of all.." a mischievous third voice added. "YOU FAILED THE FIRST ADVICE!"_

_And Tatsumi promptly received a slimy danger fish to the face._

"_FOOD FIGHT!" his assailant, Lubbock, shouted from behind him._

"_YOUUU!-BLARGH" Tatsumi yelled out, only to be unceremoniously shushed by Leone's boar rib. He countered the double attack by grabbing two nearby beer glasses and throwing its contents at both newcomers. They were drenched immediately._

"_I will not let my little bro be bullied like that!" Bulat roared. Lubbock was blown away by a pair meat tongs, but Bulat soon found a worthy opponent in a drunk Leone._

"_You.. you're cute too *hic*" Leone said. "But too old."_

_Chaos ensued._

_Two teams were immediately formed instinctively - Tatsumi, Sayo, Bulat, Chelsea and Akame against Kurome, Leone, Lubbock, Ieyasu and Bols. Susanoo and Najenda remained neutral – the former grabbing the hair in his head as he imagined the cost and time it would takes to fix the mess and the latter opting to snacking on whatever food was left, content with watching the unruly scene unfold._

"_CUTIE'S GOT ME ALL WET!" Leone shouted merrily, rubbing beer around her chest seductively._

"_YOU.. YOU PERVERT" Sayo flushed red and exploded, joining the fray with a pair of make-up brushes._

"_HEY, NO FAIR!" Ieyasu complained. "FOOD FIGHTS MEANS FOOD ONLY!"_

_To the other side of the table, a tense duel began._

"_Nee-chan." Kurome said without a hint of emotion._

"_Kurome." Akame said. "Shall we hold nothing back?"_

_Kurome provided her sister her answer by throwing ironhard, expired cookies to her throat. Akame ducked and retaliated with a ferocious salvo of sticky cakes._

_Meanwhile, Chelsea had managed to sneak behind Tatsumi and is now trying to strangle the swordsman with a wagyu cow tongue._

"_Et tu, Chelsea?" Tatsumi gasped._

"_All's fair in love and war." Chelsea smirked._

_Sayo saw the amber haired girl's attack on Tatsumi and rushed to his aid. Chelsea dodged Sayo's paint brushes, but couldn't evade the foundation powder bomb that followed afterwards. She fell down on the ground, coughing. Sayo finished her off with a squirt of liquid foundation, soaking Chelsea's shirt._

"_Oh my." Chelsea said, puffing up her soaked torso. "I didn't know you were this kinky, Sayo!" She bit her lips seductively. Sayo blushed furiously._

_A series of.. questionable images flew through Tatsumi's mind._

"_AH!" Tatsumi said, clutching his head._

"_I have achieved my victory." Chelsea said, falling backwards on top of Tatsumi._

"_Quite a lively place, is it not, Bols?" Najenda said, moving just enough to avoid getting a glass of beer to the face._

"_Y-Yes, Boss." Bols said._

"_MY DINING ROOM!" Susanoo shouted woefully._

_The music of the food fight lasted long into the night._

* * *

**A/: On an unfortunate note, I've never experience nor seen a food fight happen in real life :( **


	4. What Friends are For

**What Friends are For**

* * *

"Using cheap flour to find the fabric, huh?" Chelsea said, intrigued.

"Yeah." Sayo said. "We scattered it over the most likely spots where it had landed and found in stuck to a tree."

"That's pretty smart." Chelsea said honestly. "Why'd you stay in that class anyway?"

"I don't really have money left after that initial shopping spree when we first came here." Sayo said. "Ever since I sold his sword, Tatsumi's been holding the money bag. He gives Ieyasu more pocket money than me!" Sayo pouted. "I already apologized, too. I mean, what else should he need?"

"You do know that you can change classes if the new course has the same amount of hours?" Chelsea said.

Sayo stared at her, mouth agape. Chelsea sighed.

"Not that smart after all." she amended her previous compliment.

Sayo seethed, but remained silent. WIth a grumpy shake of her head she turned her attention to her textbook.

Chelsea merely smirked. She looked at her own assignments. They were finished long ago. She might spend most of her time teasing her friends, but she can honestly say that she is a diligent student.

With Sayo clamming up and nothing else to do, Chelsea rested her head on her arms and slept.

She was awoken by a huge crash.

Every head in the library turned to see a woman clothed in purple attire rubbing her head, surrounded by an entire shelf's worth of old books. Some were apparently torn and ruined from the fall, and the assistant looked distressed at her mistake.

Chelsea felt the incoming presence of an angry aura.

"Sheele Ianthe." the librarian hissed, walking up to the purple haired woman like a contained bomb waiting to explode. Students and staff alike scrambled out of her way.

_Fascinating._ Chelsea thought. _Her anger is actually palpable._

"How many times does this make?" the librarian said, her tone like cutting ice. "Six? Seven?"

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry for this!" Sheele, the assistant girl, said. "I'll make this up to you, I promise!"

"I don't need apologies, you've promised that before and I've heard more than enough coming from you. Heavens know why I even gave you a chance." the librarian spat at her. "Do you know how much money those books are worth?!"

"P-Please Miss Rika! I won't do it again!" Sheele kept apologizing.

Sheele started to tear up.

"It's what you said last time, girl." the librarian said indifferently. "We've given you enough of that. This is the last time you will give us any trouble. _Leave_. You're fired."

Sheele grabbed the hem of the librarian's dress and did not let go.

"Miss Rika! I need this job!" she sobbed.

"Unhand me at once!" the librarian shouted in disgust. "SECURITY!"

She slapped away Sheele's hand and three large men came from the entrance. They dragged her out unceremoniously. Chelsea did not miss the fact that one of them used the opportunity to grope the pretty, yet clumsy girl before dumping her outside.

Her needles appeared in her hands reflexively.

_No. That won't do._ Chelsea thought, trying to think clearly. The needles disappeared into the confines of her sleeves. _They will pay, but I'll need a plan if I am to get away with-_

"YOU!"

A familiar shout snapped Chelsea out of her reverie. Sayo was standing up and pointing a shaking finger at one of the guards.

"I SAW WHAT YOU DID!"

"So what?" the guard scoffed. "She's just a country bitch. I can do whatever I want with-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as Sayo sent his teeth flying with an aerial kick to the face. He dropped to the ground, out like a light.

"THIS COUNTRY BITCH CAN TAKE YOU DOWN!"

"Get her!" one of the other two shouted. They drew their batons and charged at the lone girl. The first man barreled at Sayo, who caught him with an _oomph._ She blocked a hit from the baton with her bare hands and kneed the man right at the babymaker. He went down wheezing, clutching his groin. The last one approached her more cautiously. It seems that he was the more experienced of the three. He took advantage of his size and strength by moving quickly but firmly at Sayo. She sent another flying kick aimed towards his solar plexus, but he blocked it with the broad of his left arm and threw a powerful right hook that she couldn't avoid. Before the fist struck her, the man completely froze and collapsed to the ground, twitching and drooling on the floor. Sayo looked up to identify her saviour and found a cheeky, lollipop-licking girl standing over the man with a pair of bloody needles.

"You'll be walking a little weird for a few days, but it's nothing permanent." Chelsea reassured the paralyzed guard. Awed gasps could be heard from the captivated audience. Chelsea smirked.

"YOU ARE BOTH BANNED FROM THIS LIBRARY FOR LIFE!" the librarian screeched, going into full old woman lecture mode. Chelsea muted the old crone's voice with her headset.

For such a small person, she's louder than a raid siren.

"You heard her. Let's go." Chelsea said, seemingly unperturbed by what had happened. Sayo nodded and followed the amber-haired girl out of the library.

"Why'd you help me?" Sayo said. "You didn't have to."

"What do you think would happen if your pretty face gets a bruise?" Chelsea said, stretching up on her toes like a cat. "I wouldn't have anyone to compete with."

"Compete for what?" Sayo asked, confused.

"Oh, just the affections of a certain boy." Chelsea said in a teasing tone.

"Wha-WHA-WHAT!?" Sayo flushed crimson, an expression Chelsea prided herself in drawing out. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

Chelsea merely smiled.

"Sure..." she allowed the younger girl to brush it off. "But you do owe me for the trouble with the librarian, though. If it weren't for your temper, we could've made those idiots beg _without_ getting into so much trouble."

Sayo looked away. "Well, nobody was going to do anything. So I did."

"On the contrary, I would've. If you were a little more patient, we could've worked that out together."

".. Sorry." Sayo apologized.

"I don't need apologies, I need favors." Chelsea said, winking.

Sayo gave up, exasperated, and nodded. The study break bell rang and the two girls went their separate ways.

Sayo walked down Nineteenth street, whistling a merry tune for herself. She had passed her first monthly rating exam with flying colors, going on second in her class of forty. Even Chelsea would have to admit that's an impressive achievement for a first year. She sipped a soda and sighed with happiness.. until the image of her grinning rival came to mind.

Chelsea. _That girl.._

"_.. just the affections of a certain boy.."_

Sayo blushed again. She stole glances around her, but no one seemed to have noticed. Or cared, for that matter.

_What is she doing?_

Chelsea knew of her crush on Tatsumi, and Sayo knew she knew, but she'd never brought it up so bluntly before.

_She has no tact whatsoever!_

Her mind drifted to something else though. A hint of a challenge, a competition between the two girls.

To compete for Tatsumi..

_That blind idiot isn't worth all this trouble with Chelsea!_ Sayo thought. _He's dumb, annoying, brutish, unelegant, talented, strong, loyal, caring, handsome.._

_Agh!_ This train of thought isn't getting her nowhere.

Damn Chelsea and her mischief.

So that's how you want it, huh? Chelsea thought passionately. She crushed her soda can, eyed a metal bin and threw it so hard it dented its insides. The echo of metal hitting metal drew the attention of several people passing by.

"_Country girl."_

_THAT'S RIGHT! _Sayo thought. _This country girl's gonna beat her city rival! Just you all watch!_

Her steps grew lighter and merrier as her resolve to sweep that idiot off his feet strengthened.

* * *

'A certain' country boy turned about and faced an opponent two years his senior; a huge man named Kalbi. Ice-blue eyes tracked every single movement both men moved, every twitch of the muscle and expression they exhibited.

Tatsumi had rocketed to the top of the first year classes, so Esdeath had arranged for him to face a stronger opponent. She has yet to find a challenge beyond his limits, but perhaps a sparring session with a Koukenji elite two years his senior could prove otherwise.

"I'M GONNA BREAK YOU, COUNTRY BOY!" Kalbi exclaimed. Snot drooled down his pierced snout.

"Is your mouth all you have going for you?" Tatsumi taunted. "Oh wait, you've got the pot belly, too!"

_Is it just her, or does his voice sound.. slurred?_

"I'M GONNA BEAT YOU UP, PUNK!" Kalbi shouted, pounding his massive fists together.

"Come at me, you big, fat, ugly advertisement for birth control!" Tatsumi mouthed away. Okay, there's definitely no mistaking it now. He's very much drunk. As an instructor Esdeath should be obligated to report underage drinking, as it is considered a misconduct.. but she decided not to. It would make for an interesting match, after all.

The niceties of trashtalk out of the way, their classmates cheered and the fight began.

_Kalbi might look stupid, but he's not dumb. _Esdeath thought. _Enraging a ninth-level Koukenji master isn't going to help you._

Kalbi roared and charged at the younger boy. Contrary to what one might think of the brute, he did so carefully - he extended his arms like pincers as he moved. It was a good tactic - with his range, there's no way the green eyed boy could run from his grasps.

Yet Tatsumi seemed to have no intention of running.

When he got close enough, Kalbi roared with delight and swung his right arm straight at Tatsumi's torso. To everyone's surprise, Tatsumi blocked it with his arm with ease. He then sent a vicious kick towards Kalbi's feet. The Koukenji master sidestepped to avoid the blow, but the speed of the kick was unprecedented. Slightly thrown off balance, Tatsumi took the opportunity to execute a series of lightning swift punches - five consecutive jabs followed by a brutal uppercut. The blow sent Kalbi reeling, but not done. His massive body was trained to absorb cruel blows like a punching bag; it would take a lot more than a few punches to bring him down.

Kalbi's eyes narrowed. It was obvious that he realized that Tatsumi was far stronger than he looked. But as far as he knew, the boy was a swordsman. With his superior size, strength and skill in this field, there is no way he can win.

On the other side of the sparring ring, Tatsumi was also frowning. He obviously did not expect his opponent to have such a resilient body - Esdeath guessed that he had relied on surprising the martial artist with his speed, finishing the fight as fast as possible.

_What will you do now, Tatsumi?_

The brutish man raised his arms in close combat style - covering his bare stomach and neck, the most vulnerable spots on his body. He roared and charged, but this time Tatsumi did not remain passive like he did before. He moved as well, but unlike Kalbi's straightforward charge, he weaved left and right in an unpredictable zigzag pattern. Kalbi tried to get him with short jabs, but it was obvious that by protecting his body there was no way he would be able to hit the more agile warrior.

Frustrated, Kalbi opted to go fully offensive - he abandoned his defense for the sake of reach and force. Kalbi's blows stretched longer and grew fiercer, and one by one the strikes sent Tatsumi back.

_Very good,_ Esdeath thought. _A strong offense is a good defense._

That said, it was obvious that Tatsumi had prepared for this. Tatsumi used both hands to counter one of Kalbi's hooks. Two arms meet one in blitz-like speed, and even Kalbi's Koukenji-trained arm could not absorb the hit. He withdrew it, flinching from the pain. It did not leave Tatsumi unscathed either; he winced at the pain, but recovered faster and jumped at Kalbi's broad shoulders, hooking his legs tight around the brute. He started landing punches at the base of Kalbi's neck; one part of the body that will always remain vulnerable no matter how hard you train it. Kalbi bucked and pulled at him, scarring his legs with his nails, trying to throw him off, but Tatsumi's grip was absolute. A mere moment later he succumbed to the pressure of the blows and dropped to the ground, heaving and panting.

"The match is over." Esdeath announced. "Tatsumi wins."

"WHAT WAS THAT, YOU BARBARIC BRAT?!" Kalbi shouted. He stood up shakily and pointed a meaty finger at the country boy. "YOU CHEATED! THERE IS NO SUCH MOVE!"

"I don't have the privilege of going by the rules, Kalbi." Tatsumi said.

"COUNTRY FILTH! I'LL TEACH YOU A LESSON-" Kalbi's voice was cut off by an impromptu kick to his chest. Esdeath loomed over

"I'm the instructor here, Kalbi, not you." Esdeath said coldly. She then turned to address the class. "Tatsumi is correct. In a real battlefield, one must use any and all possible tactics to win the fight. Remember - you can win a hundred battles; thousands - but you can only lose one. Class dismissed. Kalbi," she directed her attention at the brute before he was able to sneak away. "Since you have enough time to slack off bad enough a first year country boy could beat you, I think you can spend your evenings cleaning up the gym for the rest of the month. Actually, make that the rest of the year. Isn't that right, Kalbi?"

"Y-Yes, officer Frauss." Kalbi said, recognizing defeat when he saw it.

"Good." Esdeath said. "Now leave."

As the martial artist left, Esdeath stole a glimpse at the victorious green eyed boy.

_He just keeps impressing her more and more. _Esdeath thought. _Maybe, just maybe.. he might be able to succeed like I did. And then.._

Tatsumi looked back and caught her stare just as he was about to leave. Esdeath's expression remained impassive, but then it happened.

He gave her the most brilliant and the most beautiful smile she had ever seen. Students around him looked at him in shock, but he ignored them and passed through the door and out of her sight.

And her heart skipped a beat.

* * *

"YOU SMILED AT HER! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SMILED AT HER! YOU SMILED AT ESDEATH FRAUSS!"

"What are you so worked up over that, Ritone?" Tatsumi said, sighing. "I just wanted to show my appreciation, that's all!"

"Do you have a _death wish_ or something?" Ritone said, exasperated. "I knew I gave you too much firebeer."

"Everyone's so scared of her, but I think she's pretty fair instructor." Tatsumi said, explaining. "Sure, she's a little cold and a little scary, but I don't see any problems with smiling at her. Her training was why I'm getting better, after all."

"Haven't you heard the rumors?" Ritone pointed out.

"I'm not the type of person who would judge a person based on other people's words." Tatsumi said firmly. "As far as I know, she's an excellent instructor and a great officer."

Ritone looked at him with surprise.

"With your naivete, I'm surprised you got this far!" Ritone said.

"Hey!" Tatsumi complained. "I worked my ass off to get here!"

"Oh, I didn't think you would sell your body like that, Tatsumi." a familiar, teasing voice interjected. "You told _me _I was your first.."

Tatsumi looked behind him to see a grinning Chelsea sucking on a lollipop. She wasn't wearing her vest - instead, she opted for a cream shirt with the top two buttons opened, revealing an ample amount of clea-

_No! Don't go there!_ Tatsumi shook off his thoughts.

Ritone did go there, however, and whistled approvingly.

"Your girlfriend, Tatsumi?" Ritone asked. "What a cutie. Gotta hand it to you, buddy."

"No, she's not!" Tatsumi said. "She's-"

"-his fiancee." Chelsea said, blinking innocently. "Engaged yesterday, actually. Oh, how we spent the night.."

Ritone's jaws dropped.

"SHE'S JUST JOKING! RIGHT, CHELSEA!?"

"How quickly you dismiss our love." Chelsea deadpanned.

"You haven't even married and you're already cheating on her!" Ritone laughed. "With the ice queen, nonetheless! You've got guts, kid!"

"Excuse me?" Chelsea said. Her smile remained bright, but her tone grew cold instantly.

"Ritone." Tatsumi hissed.

"Esdeath Frauss, you know? The ice queen, yada yada.." Ritone elaborated.

Chelsea rushed up to Tatsumi and grabbed him violently by the scruff of his neck.

"The ice queen, Tatsumi?" she growled.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down! It's not that big of a-" Ritone said, confused.

"Honey, we need to talk." Chelsea said, sickly sweet. Her voice was low, but it was sharp enough to cut glass." She ignored Ritone and dragged Tatsumi away. Ritone shot an apologetic look at Tatsumi but he waved it away. The couple disappeared behind an adjacent building.

"What the HELL do you think you're doing?!" Chelsea exploded. "I thought I told you to stay away from her!"

"I can't help it! She's one of my instructors!"

"Then leave her class!"

"It's mandatory!"

"That doesn't explain why you would smile at her!" Chelsea insisted.

"I just won thanks to her training, what of it?!" Tatsumi said.

"You don't understand! You're so naive that she'll have you-"

"No, YOU don't understand, Chelsea!" Tatsumi countered, growing as mad as she was. "I heeded your advice for over a month already, but there was nothing about her that deserved the kind of treatment you're asking me to give!"

"NOTHING?!" Chelsea shouted. "I gave you EVERYTHING you need to know so you would lay low out there! Yet you did the exact opposite of what I asked you to do! She would probably gut you if you would do that again!"

"They're just rumors, aren't they?" Tatsumi countered.

"Her victim was my teacher, Tatsumi!" Chelsea hissed.

"Like you said, it wasn't even confirmed!"

"Do you trust her more than you trust me?" Chelsea whispered, a betrayed look in her eyes. "One month with that woman and you're already-"

Warm arms enveloped her tenderly, caringly. Chelsea gasped, stunned by the sudden display of affection. She dropped the lollipop in her now limp hands.

"I'm sorry." he said. "But I can't."

Tatsumi pulled away, but remained close. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked at her in the eyes.

"I trust you, Chelsea, probably as much as I do Sayo and Ieyasu." he said softly. "But I need to give her a chance, like everybody else."

"She's not like everybody else." Chelsea muttered.

"It's the way I am." he said calmly.

Silent understanding passed between them.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Chelsea said somberly.

"Maybe I'm not doing things right." Tatsumi admitted, offering his hand. "But I'm going to do the right thing."

She took it hesitantly, then sighed.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Chelsea said, breaking into a small smile.

"With your constant remembers, how could I forget?" Tatsumi said lightheartedly.

The mood lightened, the two students walked together towards the gates, exchanging stories about their day.

* * *

Five buildings away, a different conflict is unfolding. Three men lay prostrate before a woman with skyblue hair and piercing eyes.

"Pray tell, boys, what happened to you?" Esdeath said, an amused tone in her voice.

"We.. we were attacked, Officer Frauss."

"Who attacked you? Aren't you guards of the Imperial Academy? Who could possibly beat you up like this?" Her sarcasm was palpable.

"A.. a girl, officer Frauss."

"A girl, you say? And there were three of you?"

"It was an ambush!" one of them added.

"You consider being attacked in plain sight an ambush?"

"She.. she used underhanded tactics, Officer Frauss!" Another of the guards tried to speak.

"And do you think that's enough of an excuse to fail so miserably? Against an untrained girl? When your job is to protect students like her?" Esdeath smiled viciously, her hand drifting to the hilt of her rapier. She unsheathed it just enough so that the metal glinted under the afternoon sun like a morbid promise. She allowed it to rest there to fully enjoy the fear in the guards' eyes. When one of them started crying and mumbling prayers, Esdeath sighed and moved her hand away. "But I'm in a good mood today. You won't be punished.. if you lick my boots, that is."

She put her right leg forward, grinning maliciously all the way. This is too easy.

One of them cringed at the thought, but the other two immediately changed his mind with a strong nudge to his sides. They lowered themselves. Right before their tongues touched her boots, Esdeath kicked sideways, catching all three jaws hard enough to send more teeth flying.

"Get out of here." she said coldly. "If I see your pathetic faces ever again, you'll lose more than just your rotten teeth."

"Y-YESH, OFFICER FRAUSS!" one of them spoke for the group, albeit with a slurred speech. They stumbled over each other trying to get away from the infamous woman.

_Filthy maggots._

* * *

Sayo turned a corner and collided with a purple woman clothed in purple. They both stumbled on the pavement, rubbing their foreheads to ease the pain.

"Ouch.." Sayo mumbled.

"I'm very sorry Miss!" the other woman said, bowing at her direction apologetically.

"Hey, no worries!" Sayo said, laughing it off. She then recognized the clumsy woman before her. "Hey, it's you!"

"And y-your the girl from the library!" the woman stammered. "I got you in trouble, didn't I? I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry about it, it was more than worth the trouble. Sheele, isn't it?" Sayo asked. "I'm Sayo. Don't bother with the librarian. Everyone makes mistakes."

"But it's happened so many times." Sheele said sadly.

"Maybe the job doesn't really fit you." Sayo tried to reason. "You could probably find another-"

"No!" Sheele cried out. "I can't find a job anywhere! Every employer in my district knew who I am! A clumsy, good-for-nothing-"

"Hey hey! Don't talk like that." Sayo reprimanded her. "Everyone's good at something. You just have to find out what it is you're good at."

"I've tried." Sheele said. "I mess up the laundry, I break the dishes, I slip and got noodles all over the customers, I sneezed at a rich client because of her perfume, I lost the dog I was supposed to walk around and now I dropped the librarian's original tomes!"

_Wow. _Sayo thought, blinking. There's no defending _that_. _She really is a klutz._

"There's a ton of different jobs out there." Sayo insisted. Negative thinking won't help her. "I'm sure you can do at least one well."

"It doesn't matter if people won't even let me try anymore." Sheele pointed out. "The library was the last place I could find a job. And don't think bad about Miss Rika, she was right. I crashed around the library too many times."

"Why not leave it behind? Try things out in another district?"

"I can't." Sheele said. "I don't have enough money to get another place. Besides, I have a friend with me. I can force her to leave just because I can't get a job."

"If she's your friend, I'm sure she'll understand." Sayo said. Then an idea popped into her head. _Oh yeah.. _"Why not move to our place?"

"Huh?" Sheele said, not catching up to her train of thought.

"It's got cheap rent and it's pretty close to the academy, too!" Sayo said. "Yeah, I think that's a really good idea! Come on!" Sayo said, grabbing Sheele's hand.

"W-Wait!" Sheele said, but her complaints were for naught.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine!" Sayo said, dragging her down the street. "The roommates are kind of weird but we're all good people!"

Slowly, Sheele broke into a smile - the first one she's had in the past couple of months.

_Maybe that's not such a bad idea after all. _Sheele thought. _I just hope Mine doesn't mind._

"They're coming." a monotone female voice announced.

"Finally!" an eerie voice of a certain conspiring girl said with glee. "How is it going down there?"

"Stop asking every five seconds, Kurome!" Bulat hissed. "It's been fine for the past two hours!"

"It has to go perfectly, or he'll get my cookies again!" Kurome insisted.

"I'm sure two knives is already enough to keep him away from your sweets, Kurome!"

"Can't help to be sure, Bulat!"

Footsteps echoed in front of the door.

"ETA minus fifteen seconds." Akame announced with a low voice. "Ten.. nine.. eight.."

The door opened.

".. seven.. six.. five.."

Footwear were discarded on the shoe rack.

"four.. three.. two.." Kurome took over the countdown.

Light feet stepped on the staircase and began ascending.

".. one.. GO!" Kurome shouted.

The apartment exploded into raucous action.

* * *

You see, when Sayo invited Sheele to try and join their little get-together in Susanoo's apartment, she expected a nice, warm welcome. Something along the lines of _how wonderful!_ _Please, come in, come in!_ _We have all sorts of drinks and niceties waiting for you!_

She imagined Susanoo in all his neat and tidy charm ushering them into the living room, taking off Sheele's cloak and asking Sayo about her day. Kurome would offer them some cookies and Akame would make them something meaty. Even Susanoo's soup would be acceptable.

She.. wasn't wrong.

She would later learn to admire the sheer brilliance of the ruthless combo that is Kurome's get-back-at-Tatsumi-for-breaking-her-cookies-forty-days-ago plan, but in her moment of ignorance, outrage was all it could think.

Looking back Sayo separated the plan into six brutal steps.

**Step one.** Make sure they're stepping on the staircase. Place fragile cookies on specific areas on the stairs. Weak vibrations are enough to crack them, giving the perpetrators the signal to initiate step two.

**Step two.** Pour pre-heated, moldy sludge water down the stairs. Add sticky sewage slime to the mix and kitchen waste fluids to add to the viscosity and density of slip-n-slide concoction. Susanoo had insisted on barricading part of the living room and dining room so that the sludge would not spread to unnecessary places. Future Sayo still has no idea how Kurome managed to get Susanoo in her prank. That man is the saint patron of neat-freaks. Blackmail, perhaps? Future Sayo goes to ask future Kurome. Present author strangles future Sayo, saying that story is for another day.

**Step three. **Rain down ancient, iron-hard cookie crumbs as a substitute of hail. These murderous projectiles have stewed in the abysmal prison that is Kurome's cookie graveyard, where all cookies go to die. present Sayo had the misfortune of learning that these crumbs can interweave in-between fabric, making it near impossible to dispose of without ripping her clothes.

**Step four. **Spray an unholy combination of dishwater and month-old bread. Courtesy of a lazy Akame. Future Akame says that anything that is not meat does not deserve a place in her kitchen. Scratch that - anything not made of or related to meat is dead to her. PresentAuthor pushes Future Akame out of the fourth dimensional barrier and blocks the entrance.

**Step five. **Dump flour and danger chicken feathers to complete the look. Courtesy of Ieyasu, who is currently gone to meet a certain fanatic beauty. This would be his revenge on Tatsumi for leaving him alone and starved in the inn in their first week in the city.

**Step six. **Look in horror as you realized your prank was wasted on unintended targets. Future Kurome breaks through the fourth wall and mentions how that is one of the greatest tragedies in her life - a misfiring prank. It was the sole taint in her otherwise flawless record of torturing her fellow tenants; and offense to her aptitude as a comic relief character. Future Sayo breaks through and drags Future Kurome back. Author stares on in horror as the story almost fell apart.

Almost.

Anyway.

Back to common sense.

Sayo was mad.

Mad at Kurome.

Who does she think she is?

It wasn't that she drenched a potential housing client.

It wasn't that they could've broken some bones over a stupid grudge.

It wasn't even because she made a mess in the apartment.

_It was because her prank was wasted on the wrong godsdamned targets._

"Now he'll be even more cautious!" Kurome went to complain afterwards. "How do you explain your failure, sentry sister of mine?"

"I merely did what I was instructed." Akame defended herself with her trademark tone. "Your exact words were 'tell me when they come and we shall carry out cookie justice.' You did not detail the victims of your plan, and so I reduced the list of possible victims to apartment tenants not already present."

"Akame!" Kurome wailed. "We've been through this before!"

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific."

"I've ranted about punishing that idiots for weeks now!" Kurome said, exasperated. "Who else might I have prepared this prank for?"

"... Sayo?" Akame said, unsure.

Kurome moaned and collapsed on the floor, munching off a cookie to stave off her misery.

"Jush leaf mee alome." she munched.

"Very well. I will commence preparation for our evening dining." Akame said, walking to the kitchen.

Kurome remained there, thinking about her recent failure.

She can't blame her sister. It's actually her fault for not giving more specific instructions even though she knew how dense Akame could be. But she's Kurome, and Kurome doesn't acknowledge her mistakes. Kurome is perfect. So she'd want to blame someone else, but Tatsumi's not here.

_Which means..._

* * *

**A/N: Breaking the fourth wall was a more fun than I expected.**


	5. Play My Heart

**Play My Heart**

* * *

"I suppose you won't answer if I ask where we're going." Tatsumi sighed.

"Glad to know you're catching on quickly." Chelsea patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll find out soon. I'm sure you'll like it."

"I'm just hoping it won't be another candy store or strip club."

"Just so you know, the strip club wasn't a bad idea."

"Why would a girl like you even want to go to a strip club anyway?" Tatsumi complained.

"Just to see your face when somebody offers you a 'complete pleasure package'." Chelsea chuckled. "You can always say no."

Tatsumi groaned at the memory. Three days ago, Chelsea had promised to take him to a place where he can relax and let his nerves rest after all the commotion with the newcomers.

"I did!" Tatsumi said. "And she tried to pull my pants down anyways! I had to run away with my zipper undone!"

"You could have pulled it up before going through the entire club like a kinky exhibitionist." Chelsea mumbled.

A vein popped in Tatsumi's head. It was blue, strained and angry, just like he was when the strip club bouncer stopped him mid stride with a beastly choke and had him pay a fee for 'indecent exposure.' He lost all the money he saved up from his allowance in the past month to pay for that particular misunderstanding. It's a godsdamned STRIP CLUB for goodness' sake. The only people exposing themselves indecently are the freakin' strippers!

Damned city life.

The pole dancers approached him before he left the club and told him to come by again the next time he got the opportunity. The lewd look some of the older women had for him sent chills down his spine, tailbone and straight to the tips of his toenails.

No thanks

"In any case, it was a necessary experience for your big city education." Chelsea reasoned.

"Uh huh." Tatsumi muttered sarcastically. "And did you think 'losing' my wallet for the third time this month, resulting in me begging you to pay the bouncer fee and drown in even more of your debt, only for it to conveniently turn up in my pocket after we left the club, a necessary experience?"

"Would I do that?" Chelsea batted her eyelashes. "Little old me?"

"I'm calling off one of the three favors I owed you for that." Tatsumi said.

"Oh, but you see…" Chelsea fished a photograph out of her shopping bag. It was a picture of Tatsumi gaping at a voluptuous pole dancer who was dancing upside down. "I paid the bouncer to take this one, too. You wouldn't want Sayo to accidentally find out you've been to a strip club, would you?"

His mouth hung open in disbelief.

"This is blackmail!" he shouted in outrage.

"This is reality, country boy." Chelsea laughed, putting the photograph back inside the bag. "You're still too easy to toy with. Get used to-"

Her bag was snatched out of her grasp in a split second. Tatsumi leapt away while rummaging for the contents of the bag for the photograph. He found it, ripped it to a thousand tiny shreds and stood up triumphantly.

"Gotcha!" he said.

"You learn fast." Chelsea whistled. "I didn't expect you to take it from me so fast."

"Get. . . used to it." Tatsumi smiled, exhilarated at the rush of action and at reclaiming his dignity.

"But unfortunately, I did expect you to try and take it." Chelsea smiled, taking three more incriminating photos out of her leg pockets. "I have more in the apartment. I had about a hundred printed. You won't find them all in time before I show Sayo one."

She pocketed them again.

"Shit." Tatsumi said, giving up. "You got me."

"Like I said, I'm still leagues ahead of you." Chelsea said, sauntering towards him. Her hips swayed hypnotically as she passed his side and she leaned close, lips brushing his ear.

"Just so you know, I won't take you to those places anymore." she whispered. "I was a little. . . jealous." she pulled away, winking.

"W-W-W-W-Wha-What!?" Tatsumi stuttered, flinching back. Chelsea merely grinned innocently.

"I meant it, you know." she said, resuming the walk. Tatsumi followed, albeit a step or two behind than before. She took him off guard, again; she must have a blast teasing him like this.

_It's not like she. . . ._

He shrugged off unrealistic, hormone influenced thoughts from his head and concentrated on making sure the sly female next to him isn't stealing his wallet again.

* * *

"Here we are." Chelsea announced. Looking at their destination, Tatsumi smiled brightly.

"An arcade!"

In the sanctuary of the communal bathroom, two feathered, mucky, smelly, sticky, sludgy, cookified, breadified, flourfied.. two abominable creatures which can be described with a plethora of adjectives - are trying to clean themselves

"THAT COOKIE-CRAZY, TRIGGER-ITCHY GIRL IS GOING TO PAY FOR IT!" Sayo swore, trying to squeeze sticky sludge out of her ruined hair. She choked her hair with a bucket of soap and used Susanoo's new hose to blast the feathers off of her drenched outfit. It felt weird, knowing that the very same hose was what brought them such misfortune in the first place.

"Ridiculous… idiots, all of them.." Sayo murmured to herself, fantasizing of various different ways she would torture Kurome with the help of a cookie, some rope and a fishing rod.

"Oh yeah.. beg for it. BEG!"

So deep was Sayo in her daydream that she didn't realize that her hand had slipped.

"U-Urgl.. Miff Shaho?" Sheele tried to speak through the torrent of water in her face.

"AGH!" Sayo snapped out of her fantasy and dropped the hose. She went down on the floor and lowered her forehead to the ground.

"I AM SO SORRY!" Sayo shouted.

"Um, it's quite alright." Sheele said. "It's just a little water."

"Not that! I'm sorry that you had to go through that uncultured, barbaric, completely irrational prank!" Sayo apologized profusely. "I didn't think something like this could happen, but I should've known!"

"Please! It's alright, it's not your fault. At least it's.. lively." Sheele tried to think positively.

"I didn't think they'd go this far." Sayo said, facepalming herself with soap. "I knew they were missing some screws in the head, but I didn't think they were insane."

"It's okay." Sheele said, wiping off the grime from her purple hair. "I've had worse."

She smiled soothingly. Sayo washed the smile off her face with a spray of hose water.

"W-Why did you do that?" Sheele protested.

"You're too nice for your own good, you know that?" Sayo said, cracking up a little.

"That's not very nice." Sheele pouted.

"Sorry." Sayo said, not really sorry. "Hey, what would you roommate think of Kurome and the others? Of the prank?"

"She would probably throw a tantrum." Sheele admitted. "She's a little childish sometimes. The reason I didn't take that much offense at this prank is that I've had worse from her."

"Sounds nasty." Sayo muttered. "Why would you put up with someone like her?"

"Because she's the only true friend I've ever had." Sheele smiled warmly. "She has a short fuse and holds silly grudges, but she is also extremely loyal, secretly caring and really good at what she does."

"That makes it better, I guess." Sayo said.

"I think she's a little like you!" Sheele smiled.

"Why, you little-" Sayo flared indignantly.

"See?"

Sayo closed her mouth, realizing that she was doing exactly what Sheele had described. It wasn't exactly nice, but Sayo supposed she deserved it after spraying the purple haired girl before. And it wasn't a bad sight either. Sheele must have been miserable all day, and seeing her happy like this warmed Sayo's heart.

"I'd like you to meet her!"

"Sure!" Sayo said, cleaning off with a towel. "Can we go now?"

"But we just got here!" Sheele said, brushing her hair.

"You've seen enough." Sayo said. "Besides, you'll probably need to talk to her before making any decisions."

"I guess you're right." Sheele nodded.

"What's her name, by the way?" Sayo asked. "You never actually mentioned it."

"Oh, right!" Sheele said, as airheaded as ever. "She's Mine! Mine Marka! She's actually younger than us, but she's already in the Academy because she's a real talent and-"

The rest of the conversation didn't register to Sayo. She looked on in horror as if struck by lightning. Her eyes bulged in recognition and she dropped her towel in an overly dramatic manner reserved for those cliche scenes where someone just died. Cue the blank eyes, the tense shiver - name it, she's got it.

Because Sheele's roommate is _Mine freakin' Marka_.

_Speak not the name, lest thou defileth the fair air,_ future Sayo interjects in an eerie trance. In his defense, the Author is currently high on a fatal mixture of popsicles, vegetables and milk, and as such should not be held accountable for his actions. Embarrassed author blocks the time-space rift and promises his readers this is the last time the fourth wall will be broken in this series. Arc. Story. Chapter. Paragraph. Probably. Maybe.

* * *

_**-start flashback-**_

_Sayo met Mine in a fated event two weeks hence._

_All freshmen in the Academy's fashion division had just finished the grueling initiation and are entering regular classes for the first time. It was a difficult transition for all of the freshmen, but Sayo was certain she can go through it alright._

_Until she met a certain twintailed girl, that is._

_It was a rather innocent encounter. Sayo had just finished picking up her food from the lunch ladies in the cafeteria and was looking around for a place to sit. Freshmen and other classes were mixing in for the first time, and it was obvious that in this division people are divided by ranks and cliques. Freshmen wore blue, sophomores wore green, juniors wore red and seniors wore brown. But Sayo does not believe in seniority - everyone has successfully entered the Academy out of their own merit and therefore deserves equal treatment._

_She picked a seat near a group of second year students. Her blue uniform was an odd addition to the sophomore's green apparel. Some of them were surprised at the bold move (what is this, grade school? Sayo thought. Seating positions shouldn't even be a problem), but quickly welcomed Sayo after a humble and warm introduction. Sayo started asking them about what she could expect and good tips on starting off her Academy life. They complied eagerly, listing off places she should remember in case she needed _

_At one point during the conversation, _

_"Why didn't you join the freshmen tables like the other first years did?" one of them, Mauve, asks._

_""I hoped you guys can help a fellow student " Sayo smiled. "And you're all very kind!" some of the girls blushed at the compliment, and the last bits of awkwardness dissipated in an air of warm camaraderie. _

_"I wish I was as brave as you when I first came." Mauve said, flushed._

_"It's not that big of a deal, right?"_

_"Oh but it IS!" a seemingly offended party interjected._

_Sayo stood up, ready to face off with whatever stuck-up bitch was challenging her, but instead found herself facing empty hair._

_"Down. . . here. . ." a vicious hiss._

_Sayo looked down to find a ridiculously PINK girl looking at her with disdain. Everything about her screams foreign - her pink dress, eyes, and hair, wound up in two ponytails that drops all the way to her knees. It was unbelievably childish._

_"Learn your place, peasant." the girl said. "You're a freshmen, which means you're nothing. Furthermore, you're from the country, which means you're lucky to be breathing the same air as me. Don't get in over your head, or you'll regret it."_

_"That's funny, I'm definitely over your head, little girl." Sayo said with equal venom. The pink girl's lackeys and the sophomores audibly gasped. Some of the more rowdy juniors whistled and a carefree senior shouted fight! fight! fight! before his friends shut him up._

_"How dare you, you country hag!" one of the seniors shouted. She threw an open palm to slap Sayo but she blocked it effortlessly with a painful deflect, sending the outraged girl howling, holding her hand as if it was broken. The entire cafeteria went silent, including the lunch ladies._

_"Calm down, I didn't hit you that hard." Sayo said, a little uncomfortable now _

_The rest of the clique moved to surround Sayo and she adopted a fighting posture. She was an uncouth country barbarian, yeah, but she's also adept at defending herself. Living in the mountain range where danger beasts are rife made her a tough cookie._

_"Wait." the pink haired girl said, raising a hand. She gave Sayo a hard stare. "So you think you have what it takes to go against me, Mine Marka?"_

_"I think you're ten years too young to even be here." Sayo taunted._

_"That's it!" one of Mine's lackeys declared, a guy this time. "YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"_

_"BRING IT ON, FANCY FREAK!" Sayo shouted back. The young man went for a tackle only for Sayo to dance out of the way like it was club night, and he slammed face first into Sayo's food. Two more lackeys, both girls, came next, but there was no need for Sayo to retaliate. They actually managed to hit her a couple of times, but to a girl who grew up learning to fend off danger beasts barehanded, a bunch of prissy fashion students were nothing. It took Sayo less than ten seconds to get them all sprawled on the ground._

_"Why am I bothering with these idiots?" Mine muttered, watching the pathetic fight unfold. She stepped up on an adjacent table and shouted, "TEN THOUSAND IMPERIALS FOR WHOEVER TAKES THIS UPSTART DOWN!"_

_The cafeteria froze._

_Ten thousand!? Sayo thought. I'd take myself down for that much money. No. . . Not for her. But the others. . ._

_A veritable tsunami of various colors charged down the middle. There was nowhere to run, and Sayo was drowned in the wave of human bodies eager to please the queen bee. She quickly realized that she really was in over her head - she would have probably kept her head down if she knew the full extent of her enemy's influence. The struggle was over in seconds. There was nothing she could do against three dozen starved students. A sortie of girls restrained her on a table._

_What do I do?! Sayo thought. She's got the entire division under her pocket, it's ten thousand imperials! Not that she'd pay anyone afterwards, though. . ._

_**Wait, that's it.**_

_"OKAY, YOU GOT ME! YOU GOT ME!" Sayo shouted. Her assailants relented upon hearing her give up and pinned her down._

_"Now you understand what a futile little thing you are?" Mine sneered._

_"This guy got me, right?!" Sayo ignored Mine, talking pointedly at a baffled junior. "Ten thousand imperials! Good job!"_

_"M-Me?" he stammered. "Oh yeah, me! Give me the reward, Mine-senpai!"_

_"IT SURE AS HELL WASN'T YOU!" another guy yelled, grabbing the first guy in the collar. _

_"NO, IT WAS ME!" a girl protested. Three of her friends nodded beside her._

_"I guess she'll have to pay all of you, right?" Sayo smiled._

_Dozens of faces turned towards Mine for a verdict. The twin tailed girl began to sweat profusely, unprepared for the sudden change in the situation. She didn't have enough cash on her to pay them all. Sayo looked on smugly._

_"I.. I.." she stuttered._

_"I GUESS YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PROVE YOU DESERVE THE REWARD!" Sayo shouted at the group._

_"I'LL BE THE ONE TO TAKE YOU DOWN!" the first guy charged at her only to be blocked by a beefy punk surrounded by a clique of emo students. "She's mine, punk." he declared._

_"No, she's mine!" the girl clique declared._

_The tide of students slowly formed their own groups of friends and cliques._

_"The only mine here is ME!" Mine raged._

_Mine watched in horror as her impromptu army fell apart in the face of the reward she had offered. Of course, the look was greatly improved when Sayo managed to land a direct hit to her face with a rich blueberry pie. The impact was strong enough to knock her off her lunch table pedestal and crashing into the ground._

_And so a brawl unlike any the cafeteria had ever seen began._

_Food flew everywhere like rain. Confused freshmen duck under the tables while their seniors turned the cafeteria into a battlefield. Designer jeans and fancy dresses were torn and stained as the emo clique fired mayo and tomato sauce indiscriminately. The juniors deflected the barrage with food trays, returning fire with a vicious onslaught of miso soup. Bowls shatter and chopsticks flew, tables broke and kitchen ladies rue. Mine ordered her group of lackeys to shield her from the chaos - she would survive the day with only a pie to the face while her underlings were practically butchered with food._

_Sayo was in her element. She was a veteran in food fights and, remembering the methods with which she fought in the apartment's newcomer battle, used the plethora of make up and fabric to punch through the tide of students trying to get her. Whoever got too close gets an eyeliner brush to the face. She found herself surrounded by a group of girls armed with salad bowls and threw her foundation powder to the ground. It exploded, blinding her assailants. They coughed and retched while she made her way out of the dust cloud, using her sleeves to filter out the air._

_It took mere moments for her to escape the horrifying mess of a cafeteria._

_And that's why I win, Mine! Sayo thought victoriously, splattering an unfortunate junior with final blast of gravy before taking to the hallways. You can't buy people's trust with money!_

_Sayo would eventually regret it, of course. Three detentions and a stern warning from the head of the division later, she learned that Mine had gotten off scot-free. Apparently she was the daughter of a rich foreign trader and have more than a few strings to pull. The pink devil made sure she was assigned to clean the filthiest attics for punishment, but Sayo survived the day by imagining the look of stunned outrage on Mine's face when the pie slithered down her face._

_But after everything is said and done, it could be assumed that both girls had established themselves as arch-enemies and rivals._

**-end flashback-**

_So that bitch is Sheele's roommate, huh?_ Present Sayo thought. _It's a good chance for payback._

_This is going to be interesting._

* * *

"I've never been in an arcade before!" Tatsumi said happily, staring at all the gadgets and gaming booths available for his entertainment.

"Obviously." Chelsea scoffed, but she smiled and followed him in his fascination anyway. It was refreshing to see him so eager and excited. The Tatsumi she was used to being around nowadays was usually depressed and tired, although the occasional humor might pass through. Their banter was becoming one sided lately and his quips were growing old.

No matter. It's understandable. He had a lot of things to adjust to - silly friends, city life, academic routines and, of course, her.

The thought made her chuckle.

That said, Tatsumi's adapting a lot faster than she originally expected. Most newcomers take three to four months to get settled in, and even more to befriend people and get used to the lifestyle. He pretty much did it all in less than a month.

His friends Sayo and Ieyasu are also doing well enough. She heard from a reliable source that the boy is going on a date later on today and the girl actually managed to stand her ground against the queen bee Mine Marka. Chelsea was content in sitting in the cafeteria corner during the food fight, enjoying her lollipops while dodging chicken wings and gravy splatters every now and then. It was very amusing, although not so much for the foreign trader's daughter. A pie in the face cracked her confident façade and Chelsea wondered if helping Sayo against the rich girl would make a decent enough story to make it worth her while. Maybe she'll get Tatsumi in on it, too. Leave him in the middle of the mess later. Sounds fun.

Nevertheless, Tatsumi himself has a long way to go before she can leave him alone. The elite corps is notorious for being merciless and relentless in pushing their students to the limit. The fact the he came from the country can only make it worse. General Budou, a civil war veteran, headed the division himself. These days Chelsea rarely saw Tatsumi outside of breakfast and dinner, and every time he goes back from the Academy he crashes on his bed immediately.

With such things taking most of his time, Chelsea knew relaxation is the last thing in his mind. And so she decided that, instead of taking Tatsumi to Bulat's favorite gay bar and enjoying the shenanigans that would have ensued, she'll give him a well-deserved a break in an arcade. Besides, she missed him.

Not that she'd say any of these things out loud, although loud shouting brought her attention back to the boy in her mind.

"Chelsea! It's not working!" Tatsumi complained. He was currently hunched over a tiny Wheel-of-Fortune, pressing the control buttons furiously yet to no avail. The machine refused to budge regardless of Tatsumi's prodding. "Is it broken?"

"It runs on arcade coins, you idiot!" Chelsea laughed. "I guess I'll have to walk you through this stuff. You have to buy the coins in the counter first."

"Oh!" Tatsumi said bashfully. "My bad."

"You're too eager." Chelsea snubbed.

"Hey, it's my first time!" Tatsumi reasoned.

The both of them approached a counter manned by what seems to be a young man in his late teens. He was dressed in peculiar clothing - a lot of blue and a glaring contrast from a red scarf around his neck. A small symbol of an anchor was etched to his attire and his astonishingly blue eyes were the last indications Chelsea needed to know that he is, without a doubt, a boy fresh from the country.

He looked like Tatsumi did when he first arrived in the Capital.

_Probably from the eastern coasts. _Chelsea surmised.

"Welcome to Gary's Arcade, how may I help you?" the man said in a lifeless tone. He looked bored out of his mind.

"Fifty arcade coins please." Chelsea said.

"That will be. . . um . . . one hundred and fifty imperials." the young man hesitated. Tatsumi handed him the money and he fumbled around the counter.

"Your first day on the job?" Chelsea asked.

"My second, but. . .Is it that obvious?" the young man said sadly.

"Yeah. Why'd you leave the coastal ports? You don't look like you're particularly enjoying the city." Chelsea said.

"How'd you know!?" the young man's eyes bulged.

"She's got a sixth sense." Tatsumi interjected.

"Or," Chelsea said, raising her fingers one by one. "It could be your ridiculous clothing, accent, funky hairstyle and the fact that there's a giant sack full of fish behind you. It could be anything, really." The sarcasm oozing from her words was palpable.

". . . Right." the young man sighed. Tatsumi could tell Chelsea had struck a nerve.

"She's like that with everyone." Tatsumi smiled. "Dont' worry about it."

"Yeah, well, enjoy the arcade." the young man sighed, handing Tatsumi the coins in a small arcade purse.

"Definitely!" Tatsumi smiled, taking the coins. He rushed back to the first game that caught his attention, slipped a coin in the machine and started goofing off happily. The wheel of fortune slammed down on the 0 marks time and time again, but it didn't deter the young prodigy in the slightest. In fact, it actually seemed to make him even more daring.

"That machine's broken." the young man added. "You should probably tell him that."

"I know." Chelsea said, not moving a single inch.

"Shouldn't you be helping your boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend, huh?" Chelsea said, but didn't follow up on that thought. "Not yet. It's. . . nice to see him like this."

"Like what?"

"Happy. It's refreshing. In any case, losing those coins should make a good lesson for him." Chelsea chuckled. "Wanna bet on how long it takes for him to notice the 'machine is out of order' sign?"

"I'll pass."

"What's your name?"

". . . Wave. Why'd you wanna know?"

"Here's a couple of free tip from someone who knows her way around." Chelsea said. "In the capital, trust only the people you already know. Don't buy anything except for food and lodgings until you've lived here for a month and you know your way around. Otherwise, you'll get scammed."

"Don't I know it." Wave said bitterly. "I could've used those tips three days ago. That would have saved me a lot of trouble with this job."

"Why'd you come to the Capital?" Chelsea asked.

"I got a scholarship in the Academy!" Wave said proudly. "Military division in two days!"

"Huh." Chelsea said, her expression suddenly turning neutral. "Don't pick a fight with the big fish." Wave blanched at the pun. "See you around."

Wave would have asked what she meant by that, but the girl was already walking towards the sobbing idiot who now just realized that the machine he'd been feeding coins to was actually broken. She's the right age to be attending the academy as well, but didn't look like she belonged in his division.

Her tips though. . . _damn_. If only he knew sooner. . .

Wave sighed and resigned to his fate. There's nothing he can do about that now.

"Mistah! Gimme two dozen o' those coins, eh?" a raunchy looking dude approached his register with ten Imperial dimes.

_Back to work._

* * *

She never expected to die this way.

"Aka. . .me." she whispered, reaching out to her sister. The red eyed girl was already dead; her body strewn across the carpet in a bloody heap. Her hand fell short a pitiful distance away from her sister's. Their blood swirled and mix on the carpet like a macabre painting; thrashed furniture and dim lighting added to the morbid effect.

"This is not part of the script." Akame suddenly plopped up, ruining the carefully orchestrated pool of tomato sauce around her body. "I am not prepared to deal with this one sided conversation scenario."

Kurome slammed her face on the sauce-stained carpet again and again.

"Akame nee-chan." _slam_. "It's simple." _slam._ "You're dead, so-" _slam. _"You're not supposed-" _slam. _"TO REACT!" _shout._

"I believe forcing your face to the floor at that velocity is a detriment to your health." Akame pointed out."

"YOU'RE a detriment to my health!" Kurome wailed.

Akame merely smiled. Despite her sister's sharp commentaries, Akame knew her sister loves her dearly, and she her. But regardless of their apparent affection for each other, Kurome continued to moan in frustration and slammed her face one more time, deciding to stay there for a while.

"They're never going to buy this." Kurome groaned, raising her head up slowly. Sauce stuck to her black locks and torn high school uniform, giving the impression of a stab victim left to bleed out on the floor. Her sister was dressed and drenched in a similar manner.

"Who is this they you speak of?" Akame asked just to irk her.

"This is a good opportunity to make sure you understand our objectives, sister dearest." Kurome said. She numbered off with her fingers.

"One. Today my terror pranking record was ruined, an unforgivable taint in my criminal record." Kurome said.

"I maintain that it was your vague instructions that resulted in my failure at identifying the targets." Akame said.

"TWO!" Kurome went up close and personal to her unflinching sister's face. "I'm not very happy with that. "

"That fact is as apparent as gravity-" Akame drawled.

"Which brings me to my last point." Kurome barged through. "I must redeem myself. We're going to take it out on the newcomers instead."

"Miss Najenda has left with Landlord Susanoo for tenant business, but Lubbock and Leone should still be around the premises."

"Exactly. Lubbock Verdant and Leone Cadmium are our targets!" Kurome finished off. "Can you say the targets' name again?"

"Lubbock and Leone." Akame repeated.

Kurome smiled viciously. Her eyes drifted to the hidden hose at the back of the living room couch. "Now, to go through the plan one LAST time. . ."

The first game they played was the Wheel-of-Fortune, which Tatsumi refused to give up on. He eyed the rotating wheel like a hawk, waited, waited, waited and slammed his hand down on the stop button. It slowed down and settled on the OUT OF LUCK, SUCKER! slice of wheel. He sighed and slipped another coin in.

"It's randomized, Tatsumi." Chelsea sighed. "The average speed, acceleration and jolts change every time you go for another run. You're going to lose more than you win. It's how these games work."

"I know, but it's so much fun!" Tatsumi glowed, punching down on the button. The needle stopped half an inch away from the jackpot slot. He stepped back, finally giving up.

"I'm not that lucky, I guess." he frowned.

"What are talking about? You met me." Chelsea scoffed.

"Yeah. I did, didn't I?" He smiled warmly at her. Her heart fluttered.

_Damn his wretched, naïve, heart-stopping smiles._

She flinched imperceptibly, taken aback by the honest gesture. Then struck him in the head with her palm.

"Hey! What was that fo-"

Chelsea darted forward and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Don't let it get to your head, sweet stuff." Chelsea said, flushed but not at all bothered by her uncharacteristically spontaneous display of affection. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for our lovable protagonist. Tatsumi simply stood there, a chaotic thoughtstorm blazing in the gears of his simple male brain, until Chelsea grabbed his hand and led him to an air hockey table.

"This one's pretty popular up in the north. Just take one of these," she handed him a mallet. "and try to get the puck on my goal. Tell you what," Chelsea smirked. "If you can beat me in this game, I won't try to steal your wallet for the rest of the month."

"O-okay. You're on!" Tatsumi snapped out of his confused daze at the prospect of having an allowance for a change. Chelsea took an arcade coin and slipped it in the game panel. They took their positions and the table whirred to life. Tatsumi audibly wowed as the puck appeared, floating and sliding on the table.

Chelsea absolutely crushed him the first time around. It was completely expected, though. She had played the game several times in her days off before, and it took her only a few minutes to beat the absolute candies out of the inexperienced rookie.

"Let's go again!" Tatsumi said enthusiastically, the kiss temporarily pushed to the back of his mind in favor of securing his money.

The second game went a lot longer than the first. Tatsumi had it all planned out. He would intentionally lose the first game. There's no hope for a newbie in trying to win against a veteran during their first match. All he did was learn how to get used to the equipment, measuring the speed and strength he needed for necessary strikes, and analyzing Chelsea's moves and quirks to predict where and how hard she would shoot next.

It paid off. Instead of a flat out 6-0, Tatsumi held on with three points to Chelsea's five. Even if he lost this one, Tatsumi was satisfied enough to see his companion trying her damnedest not to let him score anymore points. In any case, he'll win the next one for sure.

"You're. . . getting good. . . at this!" Chelsea said, emphasizing the last part of her sentence with a blitz strike, sending the puck bouncing twice and into his side of the table.

Tatsumi pulled back just in time to deflect the attack. Surprised by his speed and reflexes, Chelsea's retaliatory dodge was half-assed. Tatsumi took the opportunity to take the victory from the out-of-sync girl and scored. The electronic display read 4-5.

"You're getting slow! Two more and you're done for, follypops!" Tatsumi taunted. His eyes darted here and there, tracking the trajectory and vectors of the puck strikes as he would a sword in battle training. Chelsea realized with his learning rate, he could actually beat her. And she wants to get him to owe her too much to lose.

"Tatsumi, how many times have you fantasized about groping Sayo?" Chelsea mentioned casually. Tatsumi's eyes bulged.

It was a low blow. Tatsumi visibly flinched and missed his chance to score with the puck. It flew out of control and into Chelsea's waiting hands. Her mallet launched the puck like plastic lightning. His focus dispersed, Tatsumi was unable to counter in time. With a resounding _ding-ding-ding!,_ Chelsea claimed the last point that earned her the victory for that round. She grinned contentedly at the outraged Tatsumi.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" he protested, throwing his mallet away. "AND NO, I DON'T HAVE FUCKIN' FANTASIES LIKE THAT!"

"You're a boy. Don't bother denying it to me. Besides, you're military, right?" Chelsea said. "You should know that psychological warfare is part of any battle."

"Oh yeah? Let's go another round, see how that plays out." Tatsumi said.

_As if. _Chelsea knew she'd lose if she pushes her luck again.

"Nah. I'm not sure your pride can take another blow like that." she extended her tongue at the frustrated boy. "Sounds like your wallet's up for grabs, sucker."

"Whatever." he said in a huff, and walked away.

Chelsea simply looked on.

She's having _waaaaay_ too much fun.

* * *

Sayo and Sheele walked down the stairs, clean and pristine after a good hour of scrubbing hellspawn ooze from their clothes. Sayo convinced Sheele to leave her clothing her to be laundered (for free, of course), and lent her some of her own clothes to use in the mean time.

Sayo looked around for Susanoo, but it seemed that the eccentric landlord is nowhere to be found. Instead, she found a certain Akame cooking stew. Apparently that's what they're going to have for dinner. It goes without saying that everything in the culinary concoction is made of meat.

"Where's Susan?" Sayo asked. She had taken to calling Susanoo by his nickname for some time now.

"Landlord Susanoo and former officer Najenda has left to attend to some business elsewhere." Akame said, without looking up from the stew she was tending to. "Susanoo left you a message, prospective roommate. He says that he would be glad to have another tenant, but also that you should keep in mind the sort of people you'll be living with. He also left you a sum of money to make up for any possible damages we may have caused you with the prank." Akame pointed at the thousand imperial note on the kitchen counter.

"That's. . . surprisingly nice." Sayo said.

"I can't possibly take it!" Sheele blushed. "I'm fine, really! It's not that big of a deal!"

"Which is exactly why you deserve it, prospective roommate." Akame smiled, taking the money and personally offering it to Sheele. "Take it."

"You just lost your job in the library, Sheele." Sayo said. Then she frowned. "And it IS a big deal. We ruined your skirt and it's a wonder you're not suing at all."

"Then please relay my gratefulness to Landlord Susanoo!" Sheele relented, taking the money and pocketing it. "I will use this gift well."

"We'll be going, then." Sayo said, a little irked at the mention of her archrival.

"What is your destination?" Akame asked.

"Sheele's dorms." Sayo replied. Her eyes narrowed. Her posture grew hostile. "We're going to go see. . . her."

"Her?" Akame raised an eyebrow.

"Apparently my roommate and Sayo are well. . . acquainted." Sheele said sheepishly. "It didn't sound like they are in good terms, though."

"Damn right we're not on good terms." Sayo said. "Stuck-up bitch deserves a good spanking."

"Sayo." Sheele said. "I understand you don't like her, but bad mouthing my best friend in front of me will not end well." Her warm purple eyes grew dark and threatening.

"O-Okay. I got it." Sayo said, surprised by the sudden change of attitude. She didn't think the placating purplehead could be so intimidating. "Sheesh. Good to know you can be scary when you need to be." she chuckled nervously.

"I care about my friends very much. I don't have very many." Sheele said. "You're my friend, too, Sayo! If Mine talks bad about you in front of me, I'd react the same way."

"Nice to know." Sayo said. "That's done, then. Lead the way."

"Okay." Sheele said. Remembering to bid her leave, she turned to Akame and bowed deep enough to smack her forehead to the kitchen table. She flinched back in pain, whimpering as she massaged the bruised spot with her hand. Akame looked at her with concern.

"Do you need medical attention?" the red eyed girl offered.

"N-No, just. . . give me a moment." Sheele said.

"You're still an airhead after all." Sayo laughed.

Sheele squirmed sheepishly, smiled silently and led the way out.

* * *

How Wave got this job in the first place is a miracle.

It's only been three days since he arrived in the capital, and he already had his allowance robbed from a cheeky blonde scammer and her green haired companion, half of his baggage stolen by some ruffians, ending up with him stranded on the streets with a paltry two thousand imperials in his pocket. Spare change in the capital. He slept in an alleyway beside an arcade that night.

For some reason, the ruffians didn't take his giant bag of seafood. It was the sole consolation to his horrible first day in the city. He ate cold, raw tuna that night. Cue depressing rain and asian drama music.

Wave woke up to the shouting of the arcade owner, a small old man in his fifties. His body was stiff and damp from the slight drizzle the night before, and Wave grabbed his luggage before going away. A bunch of gang thugs picked that moment to confront the arcade owner about the monthly security payment he was missing. The arcade owner said he didn't make enough profit that month to pay them. They threatened to thrash his arcade and beat him up.

It wasn't their lucky day.

Wave came back and **bam**. Cliche superhero rescue with an ocean commodity twist. Twenty six seconds, five tunas forced in thieving faces, an octopi wedgie, two swordfish fencing slaps with a hearty squid ink squirt on the side later, Wave founds himself in a grateful old man's debt. The arcade owner offered him a job, which he had to accept considering his finances were in dire straits. An hour later, he was officially an arcade bouncer and cashier molded into one crazy job.

It's definitely going to ruin his routine. He's due to enter the Academy in two more days, and he wondered if he can afford the regular dorms with the money from this job. The small room the arcade owner had left him with isn't exactly Academy-dorm quality. It didn't help that the room smelled like the ocean god took a crap inside. He had to air it out occasionally, which is why his bag of fish, which is bound to rot very soon now, is currently sitting behind him and the counter. He's going to have to throw it away pretty soon.

A pity.

Wave eyed the pretty girl and her boyfriend with a small measure of envy. They were playing around the new Tekken machine like an old married couple.

_Some people are luckier than others, I guess._

* * *

The sound of Lubbock's screaming is music to Leone's ears. Whatever those girls are doing must be wreaking havoc on her partner-in-crime. Maybe it's karmic punishment for tempting her in his "last scamming scheme of all time, promise". It was just another country kid fresh from the coasts. He would definitely deny it, but Leone was sure Lubbock did it as a way to satisfy his grudge against Tatsumi. Leone pouted for the rest of the day afterwards. That one was cute. She'd want to try her hand at seducing him before running off with the money, but Lubbock insisted they shouldn't do anything more.

She sighed. Inwardly, she knew. The road back to stealing and lies is a slippery slope.

"Hmm." Leone mumbled happily as Lubbock's screaming turned to a crescendo. He broke into the room like a maddened ox in heat, covered in blood? No. The smell_. . . . oh._

"Tomato. . . sauce?" Leone raised an eyebrow.

"Don't ask." Lubbock said breathlessly. "They're coming for us!"

"Coming for you, you mean." Leone said nonchalantly.

"Huh?"

Dreaded footsteps echoed from the ground floor below them. They were slow and methodical. Judging from the creaking of the stairs, one of them is carrying something heavy.

Kurome bashed the door lock open and stumbled into the room with a ridiculously HUGE cookie. It was hard to describe. It was a little over two feet long (sixty one centimeters for you civilized folks) and was as thick as five dinner plates stacked on top of each other. Akame came up beside her with a small hose. It ran all the way to the bathroom, and Leone suspected the sisters aren't kind enough to blast simple water at their targets. Back to the cookie. Considering its size and stickiness, it's more pie than cookie, but Leone knew Kurome would throw a murderous fit if anybody says otherwise.

"Is that. . . pie?" Lubbock said.

And that anybody, of course, is Lubbock. Bless his poor soul.

"It's a cookie, you uncultured swine." Kurome smiled and tilted her head at him. Her eyes burned like vengeance personified. Akame stepped forward with Susanoo's hose. Lubbock stepped backward nervously, trying to find a place where he could take shelter from whatever dreaded fluids Akame has in store for him.

That. . . sounded less erotic than he'd like it to be.

"Tribute to the cookie God." Leone said, tossing a bag of chocolate chip delights at the younger sister. She grabbed it out of the air and tied it to the her waist belt, adding it to her stash.

"The cookie monster thanks you." Kurome said, bowing her head respectfully at Leone's direction. "Akame, take her off the target list."

"Very well."

"Alright, I'm off." Leone said. "Don't forget to make him clean the mess." She opened the window, winked at her dumbfounded partner and jumped off. The second story fall was a little rough, but amounted to nothing for the slum cat's physique. She didn't want to get caught in the blast radius. She shrugged off the numbness from the fall and walked away like a movie hero from an impending explosion.

Meanwhile, the room above her returned to an awkward silence.

"So, just you?" Kurome said, slightly disappointed. "You can get two people's worth of fun, then. Akame-neesan, please double the gauge pressure. If you make him sing past six octaves, I promise this is the end of my cookie rampage."

Lubbock was the only one who saw Kurome's crossed fingers. Akame nodded.

"Come on, guys!" Lubbock pleaded. "What did I do to deserve this? I haven't even tried to peek at either of you showering . . .yet."

The honesty did nothing to help the situation.

"Nothing personal, newcomer." Akame said, raising the hose.

Lubbock sighed and made his peace with the world.

What followed after was nothing less than an orchestrated symphony of solo male music ranging from gasping base and agonizing crescendos from your resident psychopathic virtuoso, Kurome. She elicited all sorts of sounds from the unfortunate Lubbock, defining a whole new meaning for "facing the music".

A residual spray spurted out the window, grabbing Leone's attention. She sniffed the air.

"Acid, tomatoes and dishwater brine." she muttered to herself. "Simple but creative. Nice."

While others on the streets looked up at the commotion with confusion, Leone walked away baring her teeth with a smile. The sun should set in about an hour, maybe two. Hitting the club with boss would be fun, but she's preoccupied with that neat freak fellow tonight.

_Who knows, maybe Miss Najenda might get some action tonight. _she thought.

Oh well. She'll settle with a bar brawl or two.

* * *

He punched the sack so hard the pigskin hide that covered it tore. The punching bag pulsed like dough, sending electronic signals to the sensors which will calculate the force of the blow. As the numbers randomized, Tatsumi basked in the euphoric delight of having spent a full hour of fun in the arcade. He and Chelsea had rocked the ball throws, something they both excel at. Chelsea absolutely demolished him in Tekken, one of the new generation machines they call video games. A dozen minor games and a couple of lost bets (his loss, of course) later, here they are, trying out the PUNCH-MY-SACKS strength rating game.

For some reason Chelsea kept chuckling after reading the name of the game.

235 POINTS – NEW RECORD! the screen read. His arcade name (TATSM) was catapulted up the history of heavy punchers, flickering brightly above all others. He felt prouder than he had ever been, more than when he kicked that jerk Kalbi in unarmed combat training.

"HELL YEAH!" Tatsumi whooped victoriously.

"Not bad, country boy." Chelsea admitted.

"Koukenji training. I guess it did pay off." Tatsumi boasted, displaying his mucles at his amused companion.

"How She chuckled and moved to the punching bag

"Do you actually think you can beat me on that?" he said.

"You know me. Have I ever made an empty threat?"

Tatsumi frowned. That much is true. But considering the sheer difference between their physiques, he was still certain that he wins in terms of raw strength.

Chelsea stepped away from the machine, earning a confused look from her male companion. She took a nice, deep breath and went into a ready stance. She winked at the bewildered Tatsumi before she dashed forward, her beautiful hair flowing through the air, jumped and performed an incredible aerial power kick that snapped the rope holding the sack aloft, tearing it clean from the machine. She dropped down with a small stagger but glanced upwards just in time for the screen to read her strength readings.

237 POINTS – NEW RECORD! (CLSEA) rose one rank above (TATSM).

Tatsumi stared dumbfounded at the screen, then whirled to face her.

"That was cheating!" Tatsumi huffed.

"The machine never specified which limb the user is allowed to use to strike it." she grinned. "Will you look at that, the poor little girl overpoweres the big, scary bully!"

"Shut up." Tatsumi relented, giving up on trying to reason with the foxy girl. "Alright, let's try something else."

"We're out of coins." Chelsea announced, turning the arcade coin purse upside down. Nothing fell out.

"Aw, already?"

"You wasted almost twenty on the Wheel-of-Fortune. You have no one to blame but yourself."

Tatsumi deflated further, but recovered soon enough. He concluded his first arcade experience with a jump kick, trying to emulate Chelsea's ending move. She laughed at his ridiculous attempt, but was secretly impressed he was even able to kick a full arc in his first try. Most people she knew couldn't even get a decent whirl before landing on their butts. He landed with more grace than her, and smiled.

"I'll have to get Ritone to teach me those move of yours." Tatsumi told her. "I guess we're done here. Oh well."

"Chelsea two, Tatsumi zero." Chelsea said as they left the arcade.

"Go ahead, keep beating the dead horse." Tatsumi sighed, closing the door.

"The horse is, unfortunately, still alive." Chelsea mourned. They took off to the streets at a brisk pace. Silence persisted for a few more minutes before Tatsumi spoke up once again.

"Will you ever get off my case?"

"Probably not, no." she admitted honestly.

* * *

**A/N: From my arcade experience kicks are just as hard as punches. Also, I can't be the only one to have tried kicking the sack instead of punching it, right? Right?**


	6. Pride and Reconcilliation

**Pride and Reconcilliation**

* * *

"So, uh. . ." Ieyasu started.

"Yes?"

"This is a scheduled patrol, right?" he said.

"Affirmative! Evening patrol queue seven hundred and twenty two, and the route runs through districts 15 through 19 from five o'clock to nine." Seryu confirmed.

"And scheduled district patrols have two people partnering up for the duration of the watch, right?"

"Yes! It pleases me that you have memorized such minute details for our patrol together." Seryu blushed.

"Which means that extranous personnel are not allowed to join unless an emergency calls for it. . . right?" Ieyasu continued.

"Where are you going with this?" Seryu asked.

"I don't see why your pet monst-" the evil incarnate Seryu calls Coro barked at him viciously. "adorable puppy had to come with us."

"Oh, that's simple! He is bred to fight and intimidate evil wherever we may find it!" Seryu declared cheerfully. "Coro has been of great assistance to my patrols!"

_Your super-charge-of-absolute-justice is enough to scare every criminal in a hundred meter radius._ Ieyasu thought, remembering various occassions whereupon he had seen the enthusiastic officer part the Capital's evening strollers like hot knife through butter. Running through the streets with a naked sword raised in the air with a demon dog hot on her heels is not an experience he would like to repeat.

Ieyasu's expression was grim and his expectations dropped even further, but he was wise enough to keep his thoughts to himself. Coro is staring at him with devilish eyes that promised eternal hell and agony through various methods of torture. Seryu seemed oblivious to her demonic pet's intentions towards her patrol partner, whistling peacefully as they went down the street

Ieyasu risked another glance. Coro sent him an innocent grin, but its soulless gems that passed for eyes said another story entirely.

It's as if it was saying, _that's right, you're my bitch for the rest of the day._ It tilted his head derisively, if that's even possible for a dog to relay. _Whatcha gonna do about it, punk?_

Ieyasu sighed. This_ is not going to end well._

"Well, where's my coffee?" Chelsea asked out of the blue. Tatsumi halted in the middle of their walk and looked at her with confusion.

"What coffee?" Tatsumi asked.

"The one you're going to purchase from Bertha's cafe very soon." Chelsea said, nodding to a familiar establishment they were passing by. It was the coffee shop where they met for the first time. They talked over a few things there over the course of the past month, and every time Bertha would glare at him like he was an uncouth barbarian or something. Tatsumi froze at the memory of the kinky bartendress. Chelsea raised an eyebrow. "Did I say next month? Anytime now."

"Do I have to?"

"Do I have to leave you here, penniless?" Chelsea countered. Realizing what she was implying, Tatsumi went through his pockets and realized that at some point during their walk his infuriating friend had taken the liberty of stealing his money.

_Again._

"One of these days I'll catch you." Tatsumi said. Chelsea waved his wallet teasingly before tossing it to him. He grabbed it out of the air and looked at her with surprise.

"One of these days you'll date Sayo." Chelsea scoffed. Tatsumi glared at her. "The only reason I'm giving it back is so you're paying."

"Of course." Tatsumi said blandly. Resigning to his fate, he moved to do her bidding. She smirked at his obedience and leaned on the wall outside to wait for her coffee.

Moving into Bertha's cafe, Tatsumi was suddenly aware of a small detail he had always known all along, but never actually paid any attention to.

Chelsea's smirks are pretty damned sexy.

* * *

"This is boring," Ieyasu muttered.

"What are you talking about? Don't you feel the thrill of righteous justice coursing through your veins?"

"I feel the thrill of sweat coursing through my face."

"My master used to say that sweat is the tears of our lipids!"

"Lipi-... fat, you mean?" Ieyasu clarified.

"Well, yes!" Seryu confirmed.

"I didn't think Instructor Ogre would say stuff like that," Ieyasu said. "I guess he's a different person outside of work?"

"Oh, my master was not Ogre-sama. My real master, my father, is dead," Seryu said cheerfully.

"Wow. Uh. . . sorry about that," Ieyasu replied uncertainly.

"Don't be! It was for the sake of justice!" Seryu said. "It was what he would've wanted." She sounded as if she'd gotten over it, but for some reason Ieyasu felt there was a sad undertone in her voice.

"I. . . guess," he said. "Anyways, shouldn't we be turning around this corner right about now?" he gestured to the intersection before them. A large statue of the emperor stood in the center of the intersection, which meant that it was a key boundary between capital districts. A brightly lit street full of people lay before their continued path, but the patrol schedule indicates that they should be taking the right fork instead. It seemed rather bland with dull houses and adults in suits.

"Oh! You're right! Coro and I are grateful for that reminder!" Seryu brightened. She gestured for Coro to move ahead on the right fork. He pounced along happily through the streets, earning adoring looks from other passers bys.

"Coro is faster than we are, so I always send him ahead to sniff out any evildoers!" Seryu explained. "It is a good thing you spoke up. Otherwise, we would have gone to the red light district instead."

"The red light district? What's that? Some place you get traffic jams?" Ieyasu asked.

"Nothing of the sort! It is a moral hellhole in which the majority of whoring women in the capital seduces men with questionably low integrity." Seryu elaborated.

"Then. . ." Ieyasu said thoughtfully. _Why not? Now that I'll be stuck with that dog, I might as well try to have some fun. _"Why don't we go there? Isn't the usual route always the same?"

"Well. . . I do feel like the monotony is a bit of a problem." Seryu tapped her chin.

"It's called boredom." Ieyasu drawled. "Besides, isn't it more likely to find bad stuff going on in that district than the. . ." he peered down his assignment sheet. ". . . Eastern High Class Gypsy Rights Society?"

The temptation of taking down possible offenders sealed the deal for the enthusiastic officer. She perked up at the idea, and then nodded vigorously.

"Very well, fellow officer! Your suggestion is sound and your initiative is noted. Let us remain in our current route and exterminate evil!"

_Alright! _Ieyasu thought. _Now, to keep the demon dog off my back. . ._

* * *

"So, what exactly. . . *slurp* . . . DO you do in the fashion division?" Tatsumi asked. His hands were crossed behind his neck while he glanced at the lollipop-obsessed girl as she unwrapped yet another (surprise) lollipop to consume as provocatively as possible. They were walking side by side like they always do, taking the long way around the district to the coffee shop. As to why. he wasn't exactly sure. But he didn't mind. In these hectic days, hanging out with Chelsea was like a breath of fresh air.

He had to admit; he missed her more than he thought he would.

_Agh, too much melancholy for this mood. Just enjoy the moment and don't think too much._

After the sizable pause, Chelsea finally replied. "A little bit of this, a little bit of that."

"That's very informative, thanks." Tatsumi said.

"My pleasure. By the way, Sayo's doing a little more." Chelsea teased.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh, just a few small things. Inciting a rebellion against decade old caste system, cliques and orders, going head to head against queen bee Mine Marka, setting off a huge food-fight in the cafeteria, toppling academy trophies while on detention duty." Chelsea smiled. "Typical country people stuff."

"Sounds like Sayo!" Tatsumi chuckled. He moved his arms to the back of his neck, looking up at the sky in thought. "You mentioned a queen bee. . . What's the girl like?"

"She's only sixteen, but she's on the fast track on becoming one of the division's best people due to not only her connections, but her talents as well. If I have to be honest, she can probably get as good as me.. ." Tatsumi balked at her unusual honesty. ". . .in about fifteen years."

"You're so very modest." Tatsumi smiled.

"I suppose I am."

"So, she's not just a stuck up girl? Isn't she from the upper ring?" Tatsumi said. In his experience with the few girls attending the Elite Corps. the female population of the Upper Rings are composed of condescending, prejudiced women.

"Stuck up? Definitely. But she's not from the Upper Ring, not even close. if you met her, you'd know she's foreign. She's got pink hair and pale skin. Her dad's a big-shot trader from the east, I think. But. . ." Chelsea slowed down a little, thinking. Tatsumi realized that whenever she's not munching on lollipops, she must be deep in thought. She continued after a moment. "I suspect that she's only condescending on the outside. Considering how much she seemed to despise the company she goes with, I'd say she's making all this fuss because she's lonely or bored. Probably both. I can relate to the feeling. She's still a cunning cat all around, though."

"Not as cunning as you, I'd bet." Tatsumi said playfully. "

"Naturally." Chelsea shrugged. "Hey, we're here."

_Aaaand we're back at the coffee shop._ Tatsumi thought. The moment he passed through

"Are you gonna let your girl pay for you again, pretty boy?" Bertha yelled out.

"Not this time, no." Tatsumi said confidently. He had been holding on to his wallet warily for the past ten minutes. Chelsea looked at him with disappointment. "And no, she's not my girl."

"My brittle maiden heart shatters." Chelsea said dramatically.

"Honestly girl, I don't know why you stuck with 'im."

"Hey!" Tatsumi protested.

"Joke's on you." Bertha replied. "Cause the way I see it? You're missing out."

"Trust me." Tatsumi said, glancing at a whistling Chelsea. Somehow, someway, she is whistling through her lollipop.

"She's not letting me miss anything."

* * *

"So." Bulat started.

"Yeahagha?" Leone blurted.

"I thought we were going home." Bulat said.

"I guess YOU *hic* can call it home, heheh…" Leone slurred.

"How can you be flat out drunk at seven thirty in the evening?" Bulat sighed. "That's far too early for anyone to be so wasted."

"It's NEVER *hic* too early to get drunk!" Leone burped. "How can beer be real if my eyes aren't *hic real?"

At that point, Bulat gave up on trying to educate the busty blonde on the finer points of common manners and etiquette. Instead, he resolved to make sure that she gets back safe. Unfortunately, that means he'll have to stick with her until she either comes to her senses or drops down dead drunk in the middle of an underground gay bar.

Throbbing dance music washed over the dance floor. Men, both aesthetically pleasing and displeasing, danced, made out and flirted to the beat. Pink lights pulsated here and there, creating an atmosphere of ridiculous carefree-ness that the suppressed population wanted.

"Can you please spare three hours of our time and black out now?" Bulat complained.

"LESBIHONEST HERE!" Leone punned. "That ain't gonna happen anytime soon!"

Bulat's eyebrows twitch.

"I'm gonna go get some drinks." he sighed.

"Ima go to uh, *hiC* booth nine." Leone said. "Come by when you get yourself a booty ten! Geddit? Booth, booty… nine, ten..."

NOW she's giving him a pounding headache.

"Just… take care of yourself, okay?" Bulat scratched his horn hair. "Yell if you need anything."

"I want YOU to make me YELL!" Leone spouted off one last line from her perverse fantasy world, then ran to join the gyrating mass of bodies on the dance floor.

_Good gods_. Bulat leaned on the nearest wall. At least he doesn't have to deal with those horrific puns anymore. He heard footsteps behind him and turned around. A very attractive man clad in nothing but elastic underclothing approached him.

"Hey cutie, whaddaya say we get a little action in one of the booths?" he shamelessly asked. "I'm a sucker for that kind of hairstyle." he flicked Bulat's hornhair casually.

Bulat blushed furiously, though the fact was obscured by the dim lighting. Nobody had ever complimented him on his hair before. But...

"I've never been here before so uh…"

The stripper sighed. "Do I have to spell it out for you? You're hot, I'm hot, let's bang!"

"Sorry, but no thanks." he replied sheepishly.

"Come on, man. It'll be casual. No paying, I promise."

"It's tempting, but I'm not a one night stand kind of guy." Bulat explained.

The homosexual stripper clothed with paper thin fabric stretched across his nether regions shrugged.

"Damn. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but… well, if you change your mind, drop by booth seventeen." he winked.

Bulat didn't respond to that. Leone did, though.

"He sheemsh like a good guy." Leone giggled, slidin up next to him.

"Yeah, but I don't go around looking to hook up. Unlike a _certain someone_."

"Thirteen bottles. A disgrace to my drinking buddies. Dishappointed in myshelf. The GOOD LYFE TURN ME INTO A WIIIIIIMP~!" Leone sang, turning a fair share of heads at her direction."Beshides, you looksh like you needsh a nyshe, relaxhing night."

"A gay club is your definition of relaxation?"

"Hey, I can go touchy feely with hot guysh with no shtringsh attached." Leone reasoned. "Worksh out for me."

"I thought you brought me here with me in mind."

"I did!" Leone pouted. "You're in my mind alright!"

Bulat rolled his eyes.

This is going to be a long night.

* * *

"So, with this Marka girl." Tatsumi resumed. "Looks like Sayo might be going in over her head," he frowned.

"I don't know about that; she actually managed to turn the tide in her favor during the fight. Even I didn't expect that," Chelsea said. "Don't tell her I said this, but she's really scary when she sets her mind on something."

"It's a country people thing," Tatsumi boasted, mocking the amber haired girl's favorite insult.

Chelsea was by his side in a flash, eyeing him up predatorily.

"Oh really?" she said in a husky tone. Her lips parted slightly and licked her lips. "Are you. . . sure?"

"_Ah- uh- gah_," Tatsumi stuttered, stepping backwards.

"Just kidding," Chelsea laughed, withdrawing from his personal space and back to her own seat, unwrapping a fresh lollipop.

"You. . . " Tatsumi started, but sighed instead. There was no use in arguing against her. He resigned himself to enjoying his coffee.

"You're no fun anymore," she accused.

"You'll need to start finding new ways to degrade my dignity."

"Maybe I will," she taunted.

"You probably will," Tatsumi admitted.

"See, no fun," Chelsea pouted.

"It's better for me this way." Tatsumi explained. "No expectations, no overwhelming disappointment."

"You're inconsiderate of my boredom."

"Your boredom causes disasters."

"How will I satisfy my malaise now?" Chelsea said.

"Using ojou-sama vocabulary won't change my mind."

"Might a kiss change it?

This time, Tatsumi took the initiative. He leaned over the table.

"Maybe it will." he purred. His scent was filled with the aroma of crushed coffee and fresh mint. Her mind swirled as his hair brushed past hers. She felt his lips touch her neck, and she shivered involuntary from delight.

"Just kidding." He settled back on his seat, sipping coffee like nothing had happened, but the inner Tatsumi shrieked with glee in his success at silencing his foxy partner.

It took her a moment or two to calm down.

"I have created a monster," Chelsea chuckled nervously, breaking the silence.

"You have no idea."

"This is a coffee shop, not a love hotel, ya fuckin' perverts!" an old man ranted on the table next to them. "Horny teenagers nowadays. . ."

"You're just sayin' that 'cause you're not getting any, grandpa!" she shouted right back.

"You're so old your 'snake' must be shedding skin!" Tatsumi added enthusiastically.

"Really?" Chelsea remarked at the lame follow-up, glancing at him, unimpressed.

"Hey, I can't be as quick witted as you all the time!" Tatsumi defended himself.

"I suppose." Chelsea conceded.

"What did you say, you little shits?" The old man stood up. His cape flared around his arms/his cape flew as he rose, scattering mountain dust and liquid manliness, revealing an extremely well built physique. Veined muscles bulged along the length of his bared arms, his torso was puffed like a gorilla. A golden medallion hanging on his chest marked him as a Level 12 Koukenji Martial Artist. Six whole levels above Tatsumi's, with muscle layers thick enough to break piercing needles.

In other words, someone neither of them want to fuck around with.

Heavily armoured fists smashed together. "TALK ABOUT MY SKIN, SON? I'LL SKIN YOU ALIVE!" The steel gauntlets rattled together like thunder, drawing the attention of every coffee goer in the vicinity. Both youths in question stood up abruptly.

"Tatsumi?" Chelsea said blandly.

"Y-Yeah?"

"You'll forgive me, right?"

"For what?" he asked warily.

"This."

He realized it a split second later, but it was a split second too late. Chelsea shoved him in the old man's direction and ran for it.

_I'm gonna kill her. _Tatsumi swore.

His eyes bulged as he spun out of control and straight into the old man's embrace. His terrifying smile, laced with unimaginable malice, was embedded permanently into Tatsumi's psych. Yet at the very last moment, out of training reflex, or sheer luck, or perhaps both, he twisted just enough that the old man's grasping hands caught thin air.

He pushed off against the floor and avoided the old man's lightning fast sweep that crushed three table legs in one go. Landing on the old man's face, he pushed off one more time. Dirt encrusted boots dug into the man's face and he audibly oomphed as Tatsumi landed on the floor, running.

"THE MONEY!" Big Bertha shouted.

Tatsumi threw his wallet, its contents be damned (he spent all but a few dozen imperials in the arcade today anyway) to the enraged bartendress. She caught it with her whip, dreaded coils wrapping around the wallet, before snapping it back. It landed on her open palm. The old man roared out of pure anger and prepared to charge after the disrespectful brat, but a solid arm stopped him mid-stride.

"Pay up, old . . ."

A rugged, handsome face turned to her in anger. Fabulous white hair draped over his manly features, and a bead of sweat travelled down her cheeks. She gasped, then blushed, but kept her grip on his shoulder. He frowned at daring, and Bertha's starry blue eyes met his mesmerizing brown.

"I- uh- sir, you have to- money." she stuttered.

His eyes narrowed, but softened.

"I'll leave my cloak here as guarantee. A hostage, if you will." he said in his smooth, manly voice. "It's made of the skin of a rare high level danger beast I killed myself. I am sure it will suit a beauty such as you just fine."

Tatsumi and the other men in the coffee shop heard the audible sounds of panties dropping.

"Oh- that won't be necessary-"

"Now, where were we?" the man turned to find the pair of bastards who dared to insult him.

Of course, they were long gone.

His eyes bulged. _The brats!_

"Who cares about those idiots, daddy?" Bertha said seductively, ignoring the horrified looks on her fellow bartendresses' faces. "I'll make sure you get some. Then their words mean nothing. . . or are you too old to finish a young 'un like me?" Bertha taunted.

"Watch what you say, woman." the man growled. "You're talking to a man who skinned a Saberfang with his bare teeth. You think you can take on my tongue?"

"You can rough me up all you want." Bertha said uncaringly.

"I like your spirit, girlie!" he laughed. Then he grinned and growled gutturally. "You got a place?"

Bertha grabbed the front of his cloak and said. "Down stairs. You got some time?"

The two of them ditched the coffee shop in favor of the dominatrix's lair beneath. Needless to say, the screaming that came from the underground were detrimental to business, resulting in more than a few customers walking out with red faces. . . but also with some certain-minded individuals staying to enjoy the music.

Tatsumi and Chelsea stopped running at a street corner. They hunched over, breathing heavily. Other people gave them odd looks, but moved along.

"That old man. . ." Tatsumi started. "Why do you have to pick a fight with the worst people possible?"

"Forget that. . ." Chelsea said. "That look on Bertha's face. . . they're hooking up alright."

"Did. . . Did we just. . ."

"Set Big Bertha on a date?" Chelsea clarified. "Yeah, I think so."

"Claw my eyes out," Tatsumi swore.

"Ew. Would you settle for lollipop sticks instead?" Chelsea offered, standing up straight again. She unwrapped a fresh lollipop and started licking away. "I don't want to soil my nails."

"Your ojou-sama fashion artist fingers have no substitute, I'm afraid," Tatsumi replied.

"Hmmph. . . sure."

"By the way, how should you pay me?"

"Huh?" Chelsea turned to look at her companion. He was smiling at her, but the smile doesn't reach his eyes. In fact, his eyes looked kind of empty. No, scratch that; they were filled with all sorts of promises, and _somehow_ she knew they weren't exactly going to make her jump for joy.

"You think you're going to get off the hook that easily?"

"Oh. . . that." Chelsea said.

"That." Tatsumi nodded.

". . ."

". . ."

"One favor." she tried to bargain.

"Five." Tatsumi scoffed.

"That places you in _my_ debt. Unacceptable. Two at most."

"Four."

"Two," Chelsea insisted.

"Three, and you're going to destroy every single photo from the strip club the moment we get back." Tatsumi said. "Non-negotiable."

". . . deal." Chelsea closed her eyes, soundly defeated. "You're getting a clean slate. Lucky you."

"That was convenient." Tatsumi said, placing

"You bargain hard." Chelsea complimented.

"You taught me, remember?" Tatsumi laughed.

"I have never regretted something so much before," Chelsea sighed heavily.

"You should be regretting how you ditched a friend to a level 12 Koukenji master."

"Just so you know, I planned on bringing the nearest patrol and bring them to save you." Chelsea said. "Or blind him with my make up set or something.

"That's very reassuring, thank you." Tatsumi drawled. "Koukenji masters are known for fending off entire battalions while blind with one arm tied behind their backs. The patrol would have gotten here just in time to sweep my corpse off the floor. Maybe scrub it, depending on how lucky- or unlucky- I was."

"You are _very_ welcome," Chelsea said.

"Why do I stick with you?" Tatsumi groaned.

"My alluring charm." Chelsea reasoned.

"Right. Charm. You're probably the only person who thinks driving other people insane is charming," Tatsumi scoffed. He then looked thoughtful. "Actually, all the girls I know do that. Is that a girl thing or a Chelsea thing?"

"A little bit of both," Chelsea smirked.

"Hey, that was the first straight answer you've ever given me." Tatsumi remarked.

"Don't get used to it."

"Never even crossed my mind."

* * *

"This den of lechery and immorality. . . is not as bad as I expected it to be." Seryu admitted.

"You can say that again." Ieyasu whistled. "This is nothing like the R-magazines I snuck in the village."

"R-magazines? What are they?" Seryu asked.

"Nothing." Ieyasu said quickly. "Just some comics. Nothing you want to know."

"Very well." Seryu dropped it, oblivious.

"I-In any case, do you want to try and go in one of these clubs to uh, see if there is any injustice being committed?"

"The idea of meddling with these morally degraded people disgusts me, but I suppose justice requires its proponents to go wherever evil may be!" Seryu said.

"That's a yes?"

"Yes."

"Okay." ieyasu grinned inwardly. "How about that one?" he pointed at a particularly fancing looking club with neon-lit silhouettes of curvaceous ladies on a billboard. The sign read 'Exotic Dreams'. A gaggle of dancers and seemingly rich young man entered the doors periodically.

"As you suggest!"

_Step one, success. Step two, get in there and enjoy the girls without drawing too much attenti-_

"YOU ARE ALL IN THE PRESENCE OF JUSTICE!" Seryu bellowed, earning them the undivided attention of every living thing in the club. "ANY EVILDOERS, CEASE YOUR ACTIVITIES IMMEDIATELY OR I SHALL INCARCERATE YOU!"

"Hey lady, you're not invited."

"Nonsense. I am part of the imperial guard." Seryu argued.

"The guard? Shit, I thought we paid that captain not to bother us here." Ugly Bouncer said.

Coro growled.

"You sure you're a guard, little girl?" Fat Bouncer said.

"I am not a little girl! I am an officer-in-training at the Imperial Academy!" Seryu boasted.

"So that's why. These damned ojou-samas are always thinking that they can stroll in wherever they want. Well what do you know, high school girls like you should STAY in school. Now get lost," the bouncer glared condescendingly, preventing them from going further than the entryway.

Seryu's eyes narrowed, and Coro growled menacingly. The bouncer brightened at the sight of the dog and crouched to get a closer look.

"Hah, what a cute puppy! Hey. . . I know; you're going to give it to me for all this trouble."

"Give you Coro? In your dreams," Seryu scoffed.

"You're out of your depth, little Academy whore." Ugly Bouncer leaned closer to her. Ieyasu tensed when he saw the knife the bouncer was holding. His stare promised pain and agony, while Seryu, on the other hand, was expressionless. But then, for the smallest moment, Ieyasu saw the tiniest hint of maliciousness boiling under her mask of calm.

"I, but - uh-" Seryu stuttered. It seemed as if her bravado was finally crushed; realization that the bouncers weren't afraid of her dawned on the officer-in-training.

"Little girls ain't exactly my taste, but if you stay I'll make an exception for you." Ugly Bouncer grinned lecherously, humping the air suggestively.

"I-I'll go. You can take the dog. Just. . . don't hurt me." Seryu quivered.

"Sure thang. Thanks for your cooperation," Fat Bouncer grinned. "And boy?" he gestured to Ieyasu.

"Um, yeah?" he replied unsurely.

"Don't let your bitch go running around like this. And I don't mean the dog. Now get lost." he shifted his attention to Seryu's dog. "Come here, puppy, come to papa," he gestured at Coro. It looked at Seryu questioningly, and the zealous officer-in-training sent the dog a wink, which only Ieyasu saw. Coro jumped into the Fat Bouncer's arms, fur bristling, but remained relatively submissive. Seryu and Ieyasu made their way out of the club.

"Aw, aren't you cutie? Who's a good dog? Who's a good dog?" Fat Bouncer cooed.

"Why did you go through all that trouble? You could've marked the place for the police to ransack later." Ieyasu asked the moment they were out of the club.

"Didn't you hear? It seems that one of the captains have been taking bribes from these scum. So that's why nobody's patrolling these parts. I pretended to be bluffing when it came to Coro because they'd never take him if I acquiesced too fast. They're ugly and fat, but not that stupid. They've been here awhile. But the actual reason is... well, I'm a little bored. Besides, Coro needed a little exercise."

He didn't miss the horrifying smile on her face when the screams started.

* * *

"This is not what I thought she would be living in," Sayo observed. They had just passed through the doors to one of ten dorms in the Academy. Each dorm housed almost a thousand people, divided to male and female wings. Apparently trying to sneak into the female wing is tantamount to public flogging, so Sayo made a mental note to remind Ieyasu to not be an idiot. Not that it'd deter him. She'll do it just for the sake of telling him "Told ya so" while he nurses his bruised bum.

The dorms act as tiny towns within the small city in the middle of the ring surrounding the Imperial Capital, and are too big for receptionists to service everyone, so dorm people sign in and out via checklist sheets instead. Sheele signed on a sheet and grabbed a small tag off some shelves near the entrance. She put it on Sayo. It read "Guest Visitor".

"I would have thought that she lived in a mansion or something." Sayo said.

"Mine's father is a harsh but wise person," Sheele elaborated. "He believes that she was already given enough advantages to make something out of herself. The only thing he is not supporting her daughter in is finances. Mine makes her own money by forming a small guild of reputable students who are working part time for the academy."

"That makes sense. But what strikes me as odd is that you're friends with her even though you're going to different divisions." Sayo commented.

"Mine is a lonely person," Sheele smiled faintly.

"Lonely? Haven't you seen the flock of admirers following her everywhere?" Sayo snorted derisively.

'That's exactly my point," Sheele said. "They follow her, always behind her. If you notice, she never has anybody standing next to her. They hide in her shadow, leeching off her popularity to intimidate and to get things from other people."

"I. . . never thought about it that way," Sayo admitted.

"She stood up for me, once," Sheele said. "Some of her worshippers wanted me to lend them money they probably wouldn't have returned. I didn't want to, but then the girls seemed as if they were about to get physical. She came and stood between me and them. They apologized profusely, not wanting to get in her bad side. It wasn't because they respected either of us, or realized that they were in the wrong. Mine looked melancholic and lonely afterwards, so I thanked her and asked if she would be my friend. She looked at me as if I was the weirdest thing she'd ever seen in my life, but after I asked her again, she smiled and nodded. We've been best friends ever since."

"That does NOT sound like the Mine I know," Sayo objected

"The Mine most people know is her shell," Sheele replied. "I think if both of you met each other with open minds, you would've become good friends."

"Like hell we can," Sayo said. "I'm sorry to say this, but your pompous friend doesn't seem to be doing jack to help anybody. I was just trying to make friends yesterday and she was all over me in seconds."

"What makes you think she can?" Sheele asked.

"Um, can't she?" Sayo said. There was a small pause as the girls ascended the dormitory stairs.

"I guess she's a very influential person. Probably the most influential in your division. But there are others who would snatch the opportunity to topple her when they get the chance. She's not a citizen of the empire; her family comes from the western nations. If she tries to change the status quo too suddenly, it'll end up backfiring on her. All she can do for now is do little things like stopping me and other freshmen from getting bad treatment from her clique. Damage control. But she still needs to keep up the holier-than-thou facade for her own sake," Sheele lectured.

"You know, you're a lot more perceptive than you seem," Sayo said, surprised.

"I'm still an airhead though."

"You're clumsy, and a little slow at times. But you're definitely not an airhead. Compared to those stuck up girls from the upper ring, you're amazing, Sheele!" Sayo complimented.

"Um. . . uh. . ." Sheele mumbled, not sure how to take her praise.

"I'm trying to think about her in a better light, but it still felt good to see her face with my pie on it, though," Sayo smiled.

"I kind of would've wanted to see that, too." Sheele admitted. The girls laughed together.

"Oh, here we are." Sheele announced suddenly. They were standing in front of a sticker-decorated door. Three massive words in red dominated the front - DO NOT ENTER. A few extra sentences were printed beneath in small food. Put gifts and food by the door.

How friendly.

"What are we waiting for? Is it locked or something?" Sayo asked.

"I'll need to knock a certain pattern so she'll know-WAIT!"

"Huh?" Sayo was already opening the door, taking a few steps inside, just in time to collide with a certain pinkette, who had just left the shower. They fell into the ground in a messy heap of wet hair, pink towel and a fresh-off-the-line hairdryer.

Three point three seconds passed, which was all it took for all three girls to fully absorb the situation. Sheele winced. Sayo gave her a pained smile. Mine's jaws hung open.

"Hi?" Sayo said.

There are few moments everyone experienced where they saw their lives flash before their eyes. In this case, all Sayo saw was a Yue Dynasty vase hastily grabbed from the nearest decorative stand and flung to her face. Her reflexes saved her from a critical hit, but she was too slow to avoid a glancing blow to the side of her head. She narrowly evaded an electric hairdryer, a tissue roll, three lotion sticks and two hairbrushes, all thrown in rapid succession.

"INTRUDER! FIEND! WRETCH!" Mine shrieked, trying to wrap her flimsy towel around her figure.

"For gods' sakes, you didn't have throw that thing at me!" Sayo complained, pressing a hand to her throbbing head. "I could've gotten a concussion!"

"Country whore! How dare you touch me!" Mine mouthed off. Towel secured, she tries to regain composure.

"At least it was an accident! The freaking vase wasn't!"

"You're lucky it's a vase and not a knife!"

"Please! Like you can hold anything more than your britches with your flimsy hands! I bet you can't even-"

"Girls?" a third voice interrupted.

They stopped only when two menacing kitchen knives were pointed at their direction. Sheele was smiling blandly at both girls.

"Let's sit down and talk. Or would you prefer the hard way?"

A glint of her knives was incentive enough for Sayo and Mine to back away from each other.

The knives lowered, Sheele smiled faintly.

"You should go dress, Mine. And you should sit down on the couch, Sayo."

A small victory.

On one hand, Sayo wondered where the timid, shy Sheele disappeared to.

On the other, Mine wondered what her roommate was thinking

On the third hand (le third appendage appears), Sheele smiled, satisfied by the reaction she received.

It didn't take that long for Mine to get dressed, but she seemed to have calmed down considerably.

"Now, let's hold hands and talk about our feelings!"

* * *

"What WOULD you have done to me if I refused to negotiate?" Chelsea toyed with him.

"Push you up against a lamp post, tie you up and leave you there for the rest of the day without your lollipops. Would've made an interesting sight for the patrol," Tatsumi mused. "I'd then use the time to find the photos and destroy all of them, and _then_ soak your bed with Akame's leftover cooking."

"Good plan." Chelsea nodded in approval. "But what makes you think I'd let you do any of that? And how far would you go to make sure that I don't have lollipops in certain. . . places?"

"A nice knot on your arms won't let you reach them. And maybe you like being tied up," Tatsumi said.

"Maybe I do," Chelsea eyed him, her boredom in full swing. "You know, this accepting streak of yours is getting on my nerves.

"That's rich, coming from you."

"Rich and creamy, that's me," she responded.

"An expired yogurt, that's you."

"Ouch." Chelsea said in a monotone voice.

"Eh, I'm sort of fed up with all the teasing you and Leone put me through. I swear if I hear another sexual innuendo from either of you _one more time_, I'll go crazy."

"Crazy with. . .? Crazy for. . .?" Chelsea teased.

"I'm ignoring you now," Tatsumi declared.

"I have your wallet again." Chelsea announced, waving the old brown thing in front of his twitching face.

_Godsdammit, she got me again. How many times does this make? And how is she doing this?_

Tatsumi swiped it off her grasp instantly.

"What happened to ignoring me?" Chelsea grinned cheekily.

"As if anybody could ignore your. . ." Tatsumi trailed off.

". . . beauty?" Chelsea supplied.

". . . wasn't it charm before?" Tatsumi laughed.

"There are many sides of me to love," Chelsea bragged.

"And run from," Tatsumi pointed out.

"After all I've done for you? You hurt me," Chelsea pouted.

"After all you've done TO me. And you probably liked that.."

"A little pain? Maybe. Would you?"

"What?"

"Like that?"

"Wanna find out together?" Tatsumi winked.

Chelsea snapped. She stomped her foot to the ground and pointed the sharp end of her lollipop stick at her companion as if it was a gun.

"Why are you so. . . AGH! I am so fucking done with trying to tease you like that," Chelsea grumbled. "This is worse than you being a bumbling idiot!"

"Victorious!" Tatsumi cheered, smiling widely.

She stomped off, seething, but didn't go too far. She stayed a dozen paces in front of him until they arrived back at the apartment. "Don't think it's over yet, country boy." Chelsea glowered. "I'm far too good to give up because of a little copycat like you."

"I'd never dream of it, city girl," Tatsumi smirked._ But I can enjoy every second of it. Which I am._

"You still need a decade's worth of experience to keep up with me! And to make up for this bored farce of yours, YOU'RE going to take ME to the arcade tomorrow!" Chelsea demanded.

"Hai, hai," Tatsumi acquiesced. _This time, I'll force her to play that air puck thing again. Then I'll win for sure! _He smiled, fantasizing about Chelsea's future downfall.

"Oh, just for the note." Chelsea said, eyeing him carefully. "We're not playing the air hockey again."

"Aw, come on!" Tatsumi complained. "That's like, the one thing I really want to- hey, what's. . . that?"

There were odd splatter marks on the pavement, which seemed to originate from the newcomer's floor. Lubbock was leaning out the windows, absolutely drenched in foul-smelling liquid he could smell on ground level, cleaning the glass and walls with a soaked piece of cloth. Looking further inside, they can see

"Having fun, plant head?" Tatsumi mocked.

"Karma's a bitch, isn't it?" Chelsea added.

"Fuck you." Lubbock shouted back, resuming his job and ignoring the two of them. Filthy gunk splashed on his face from the top of the window, and Lubbock guh-ed. Tatsumi snickered. Fed up, the unfortunate man slammed the windows shut, deciding to try his hand at cleaning the room while muttering about how he hadn't slaved for years to get this as a reward.

"I wonder what he did to get in this much trouble." Chelsea mumbled.

"Wanna guess?" Tatsumi said.

"It's more fun to find out." Chelsea said.

"I guess." Tatsumi shrugged.

They entered the apartment and were greeted by the oddest display of gruesome liquids and filth. The entire staircase was an absolute mess; at least, for the first two of five floors. A plethora of towels, ranging from childish to downright ancient, covered them, and were soaked to every fibre. A small barricade of wood and furniture blocked the sludge's advance further into either the living room or the kitchen, where they found a content Akame trying out her mystery meat concoction. She sipped from the ladle and nodded to herself. Noticing her fellow tenants approach, she turned to them.

"Any and all waste present is caused by my sister and I. Any and all problems may be directed to Kurome and rest assured, Chelsea, landlord Susanoo has consented to these actions."

"Okay. I'm guessing Lubbock's the victim?" Tatsumi asked.

"He is one of three, the other two being Sayo and a potential tenant." Akame said.

"Why would Kurome prank Sayo?" Chelsea interjected. "As far as I know, she hasn't done anything to earn her scorn."

"The original intent of Kurome's first assault is to make you pay for the transgressions you have committed. The second is to appease her broken pride when the first prank failed," Akame explained.

"Me?! What did I do now?" Tatsumi groaned.

"Actually, it's what you already did." Akame said. "She has yet to forgive you for ruining her cookies in your first day here."

_You've got to be kidding me._

"What the hell do I have to do to earn forgiveness for that?" Tatsumi asked. "I cleaned the bathrooms! The attic! Laundered her sheets and baked her four more times the amount of cookies I broke!"

"With my help." Chelsea said. "You're hopeless at baking. All you do is lick the dough and check the time."

"Still!" Tatsumi said. "She shouldn't hold such a grudge for so damned long!"

"Also, you seem to have enjoyed cleaning the bathroom in the first place." Akame smiled at him, then Chelsea. The amber haired girl gave her a blank look. "And the other chores could be seen as an 'initiation' for those new to the apartment. The cookies were mostly made by Chelsea, so all said and done according to Kurome you haven't done a single thing to atone for your sins. That would take your prolonged suffering to appease."

"Screw me," Tatsumi swore.

"T-Tatsumi! I didn't think you would. . . but. . . it's not that you're aesthetically displeasing or anything but. . ." Akame stuttered, her face glowing brighter than the setting sun. "Iwouldliketoknowsomeonebetterbeforeconsentingtosexualintercourse!" she blasted through in one go.

"W-WHAT!? HOW DID YOU EVEN GET THAT IDEA!? IT WAS A FIGURE OF SPEECH! JUST A FIGURE OF SPEECH!" Tatsumi shouted in mortification.

"It's fine, Akame!" Chelsea laughed. "Huh, I guess you're not immune to teasing if it's from other people."

"Shut up."

* * *

"Let me get this straight," Najenda said, leaning back on the chair. She took a whiff of her cigarette and breathed, exhaling a puff of smoke. Susanoo waved it away in one smooth motion. The smoke dissipated next to another couple seated on the table next to them. The woman looked at them with distaste. Both Najenda and Susanoo ignored her.

"The reason the price for the apartment is so cheap is that it's the only way you know how to attract suitors."

"Yes." Susanoo nodded. He sat tall and straight on the chair, towering over the other patrons of the restaurant they were both in. "I am not well versed in businesses, I'm afraid."

"You don't bother interviewing the sort of people you are renting the rooms to, which results in several. . . unusual characters and some other. . . shady tenants," Najenda picked her words carefully.

"That would be correct," Susanoo confirmed.

"Is this apartment's not even yours?" Najenda scoffed.

"Not really, no," Susanoo admitted. "I am only one landowner amongst dozens. We share our information and resources to get more profit. As I am economically almost worthless, they are threatening to cut me off from the guild. That would result in me incurring a catastrophic amount of debt and us losing the apartment as well."

"I had intended for the question to be a joke, but apparently it was the truth as well," Najenda said in exasperation. "Well, why are you telling _me_ this?"

"I believe you are a person of strong character and wise beyond your years, Miss Najenda," Susanoo said. "And with no other person to turn to, the only one I can ask help from is you. Unfortunately, I don't have very many connections, which adds to the reasons why I joined the landowners' guild."

"Well, there are limits to wisdom and morality. I know that better than anyone," Najenda replied darkly. "If I don't have anything to do with you, I'd tell you to cut your losses right about now and try your luck in something else-"

"Excuse me, miss," a waitress stood by their table, interrupting the conversation. "I'm afraid that this is a non-smoking restau. . .rant."

Najenda glared at her with her one good eye, the purple orb narrowing as if staring into her soul. The eye patch and metal arm amplified her intimidating aura by a hundred. She cocked her head to the side.

"You were saying?" she asked frostily.

"I-I'm terrible sorry. Please enjoy your dinner," the waitress took a few steps back, then fled. Dozens of people around them immediately exploded into gossip and presumptions about her. A measure of silence passed between the two until the commotion died down.

"You make a terrifying opponent," Susanoo remarked, resuming the conversation.

"Thanks. I got it from the old days," she smiled. "It's good to know I still haven't lost touch of my glaring skills."

"Military officer?" Susanoo guessed.

"Served five years, made it to colonel before. . . things happened," Najenda grimaced. "But we digress; back to the issue at hand. You can at least double the prices or advertise it somehow, although the former would mean that Lubbock, Leone and I would find some other place to live, and to be frank I loathe the idea."

"I admit I may not be much of an intellect, and that my penchant for neatness has cost me more than should have been acceptable," Susanoo said. "But I consider the people living here as part of my family, of which I used to have none. I prefer the life of a slave before I give up this one."

"You might have to, if you fail to pay your debts," Najenda pointed out.

"It is a risk I am willing to take, and a risk I am hoping you can reduce," Susanoo said.

"Your passion is admirable," Najenda said, breaking into a wide smile. "Very well, business partner. We'll find a way to save your sorry ass."

"That is all I am hoping for. Thank you." Susanoo stood up and bowed

"I'm not that much for formality, really," Najenda said, tapping on her cigarette. "But why would you trust me on this particular matter? You learnt my history from Tatsumi and Chelsea, did you not? Besides, the lollipop girl is smarter than she looks and could probably help you as well."

"I have already asked her. She has confided in me several issues she is currently struggling with, and knowing what they are I know that she will be unable to help."

"Which means that I really am the only person you can go to," Najenda said. "I'll help, upon two conditions."

"Name them," Susanoo replied instantly.

"Cut off the rent for me, Lubbock and Leone if we succeed. And you're going to listen and do as I say."

"Alright," Susanoo said. "What do you have in mind?"

"It's an idea I've entertained for a long time. Had I the contacts and resources to do the job, I would have done it long ago."

"What is it?"

"Might as well tell you now," Najenda said. "This should work. . ."

* * *

**A/N: So many characters to keep up with, this story has been a challenge on my story-building and plot-hole-detecting skills.  
**


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